Tracing Your Family Tree

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord…” – Psalm 102:18

Lydia found a box of pictures while she was cleaning her parents’ attic one year. Although both of her parents had passed away just a few weeks before, seeing the images made Lydia smile.

So, she decided to create a scrapbook of her family history. When she wasn’t sure who someone in a photo was, she would scan it and send it to her great aunt.

Photo by photo, Lydia was able to create a story of her family. Who they’d been, who they’d married, what they’d done with their lives. She compiled everything she could get her hands on.

“I just wanted my kids to feel their history. To know who they came from and the decisions their relatives made. It’s important to me that they can trace God’s goodness through all the generations of our family line.” Lydia explains.

Creating scrapbooks and organizing mementos can be hard. It can stir up old memories that comfort and ones that cause pain, too.

But if you don’t have a perfect family, take heart: Jesus also came from a line of people that weren’t perfect. In His family history, there’s a liar (Jacob), a murderer (King David), and a prostitute (Rahab). But despite their sins and their mistakes, Jesus is proof that God is always faithful.

God, when I’m frustrated and overwhelmed with family, remind me Jesus didn’t come from perfect people. Help me to show kindness and grace to my family. In Jesus’ name, Amen.