Yesterday was an exciting day at our house. We had carpet added to our living and bed rooms. It made a big difference in the house and I dare say it's never looked better!
As I was cleaning out one of our storage areas yesterday I found a photograph of my great grandmother sitting on the front porch of the house we now live in. It looked like she was relaxed and enjoying life. I sat in amazement at the fact that so many generations have lived there. To think that my grandparents and my great-grandparents have enjoyed their lives and raised children in the exact same place I am is a bit too much to think take in. As I looked at that picture I thought about what my great grandmother must have been looking at as she stared off ahead of her. What did she see? The same beautiful line of mountains that adorn our view to the south? Did she gaze out towards the garden and reflect upon the good or the bad season of crops they would have? Did she watch as her daughter (my grandmother) played in the yard under the sugar maple tree with her grandson (my father)?
It's all a bit much really when you look back and think about those types of things. Now we sit in the same antique metal chairs looking at the same beautiful vistas, watching Katie swing in the hammock under the same tree that I swung in and that my dad probably climbed. Heritage is a wonderful thing really. It's nice to be able to look back and see pictures of the home that my grandmother made for her family and that we are now making for ours. There was a lot family pride in me when I replaced my grandfather's old mailbox and planted a new one in the same spot with 196 GIBSON shining proudly back at me!
The house that we are living in is perfect for our family. I can see the craftsmanship and skill and care that my grandfather took when he built it. Little did he ever guess that his grandson would one day need a home to raise his family in that was well built and ready for living in. I'm sure he never would have imagined that Gibsons would again occupy the land that he cared so deeply for.
Family heritage, as far as possessions are concerned, is indeed something to be proud of. I'm even more proud of the Godly heritage however that my family has passed on for generations. All of my grandparents were spiritual influences for me, especially my Grandaddy Manuel. I can still remember him opening up his Bible at the beginning of every morning to have time in the Word. They raised Godly children who have gone on to raise Godly children. I am just so thankful that we have a Godly heritage to be thankful for and proud of too. God is so good!
This makes me think about the lost in places like Ukraine. Their spiritual heritage simply doesn't exist. People my age only know one thing there...and that is that there is no God. The USSR implemented an atheistic protocol in terms of religion back in the 1930s. Since then millions of Russians/Soviets have entered into a belief system that will or has led them straight to hell. Generation after generation lost to the darkness.
I want our friends that we work with in Ukraine to one day be able to write blogs about their spiritual heritage in Christ. I want them to know the Savior! I want them to know the freedom they have. Please pray that as we can so easily look back on our own blessed life as free people and as Christians, that we will look ahead as well and say to the Lord, "Here am I. Send me."
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