the past gives us the present

Do you know your parents history? Did it change your life before you even knew it?

My mom grew up in a very poor and violent neighborhood. She learned to be strong and fight for what she needed. Her mother, Margarette, taught her that. As a young teen, child services wanted to take her from her family. Margarette was legally blind, not in good health and not able to care for her children. Mom wanted to stay with her family. And she got her wish. She attempted to live with each of her married sisters. It wasn’t easy. It strained their relationships. They didn’t know how to raise a young teenager. At that stage in their own lives, they weren’t ready for the responsibility given to them.

Those years were hard on my mom, but she is resilient. And later she found Jesus, but she didn’t stop there. She chose to follow him. It changed her life. It changed my father’s life. It changed my life. And ultimately, it changed my kids’ lives.

There are countless examples in the Bible where people made a choice and the generations that followed them experienced life based on their decision. Some good and some bad. Here are a few of the good ones. You can check them out if you want.

Rahab helped some spies. She saved her family. - Joshua 2

Hannah gave up her child. He became a great man who followed God. - 1 Samuel 1-3

Esther put her life on the line making a request of the king. She saved the Jewish people. - Esther

Elizabeth kept her baby in old age. That child spoke truth which lead people to seek God. - Luke 1-3

Ginny And Jody

Just like your mom and most people, my mom’s choices are influenced by her past experience and who she wants to be today.

She chose to spend hours with me as a kid - reading, playing games, making mac-n-cheese, tucking me in at night. She gave me the childhood that she never had. Today, it has given us the relationship that she never had with her own mother. Even though we can be very different at times and we’re both extremely strong willed, my mom is my confidant. It is a relationship I treasure.

You and I may not have the same experience, but if you search your family’s history, you will certainly find out things you never knew. You may even come to understand why your parents or grandparents made the choices they did in how they raised and influenced you.

Now it’s our time to think about and choose the ways that we will we influence the next generations of our families.

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody

Ps. Here’s something fun! I still have that rocker in the picture. My son has the red pillow that my mom made.

It was my favorite pillow for several years!