April 25, 2007

It'd be okay with me if my family tree is just a birch or a pine!

Somehow the lot has fallen to me to research our family tree. My family, both near and far, want to know their roots, but none of them want to dig them up.

The task is not my favorite. I get totally bogged down, even after taking a workshop on how to do it. The ‘experts’ say, ask one question about one ancestor, and focus; dig until you find it. This means searching in various places using various resources. My problem is while I am in that one search for one answer, I think, “While I’m in here, I might as well see if this resource has anything about so-and-so.”

That makes me go in circles for hours. Then, when I’ve moved on, I can’t remember who and what I’ve already looked for. I’m okay with the focused questions if I write them in my research log, but seldom think to record the rabbit trails, and get annoyed with myself for wasting so much time running down them.

Staying focused on one question is difficult. I’ve a variety of places where the answer could be found, or not. I can look on the Internet with its vast array of free and commercial sites. It’s kind of cool to find a relative on an old census, but most of the sites want money up front before they tell me if the “hit” is really the person and information I want. Or I might discover that I have to send away for a microfilm, or go to the archives, or get into a chat room.

If the question is interesting, and the search becomes fascinating detective work, I can do it. If it is the date someone got married, or the year they arrived in Canada, or some other statistical data, my interest quickly lags. The only great find so far was discovering two distant cousins I didn’t know I had, contacting them by email, and getting to know them, including that they are both Christians.

Some people think genealogy is extremely important because there is so much of it in the Bible. However, most of that is given to trace the human history of Jesus Christ and to prove that He is a descendant of David, just as the promised Messiah would be. Other lists simply show what family someone came from and that people are who they are.

I’m thinking most people today use genealogy records to give them a sense of identity, a sense of belonging. When I found the spot in Scotland, perhaps even the very house, where my grandfather was born, I felt affirmed as a member of my clan, but I already know who I am.

What has any of this to do with my relationship with God, my every day life, and my eternal destiny? Maybe that is my problem—I can’t see the point of doing this. My identity is in Christ, not in my family records.

Today’s devotional took me to a family tree in 1 Chronicles 4. At the end it says, “Now the records are ancient. These were the potters and those who dwell at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwell with the king for his work.”


The comment says that each person has his or her work to do. In those days, you could be a soldier or a gate-keeper, but your role was vital to the kingdom. The same is true today. In the service of my King, Jesus Christ, whatever role He gives me has value. I’m not an evangelist reaching thousands, nor a parking lot attendant sorting cars in the church lot each Sunday, but my role fills a spot that suits my King—and I didn’t find that out studying my family tree!

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