This is Where I Come From...

This is where I come from... In this one picture are so many things... from the people who not only give me a past and a heritage, but those who will also give me a future and a legacy, to the literal ground that has passed through three generations of my family and now serves as the source of make believe and nature's playground for my two girls. There are so many things I love in this picture... so many things that have changed and will continue to change over time... so much that is yet unknown. My grandparents are the rock for all of us, the rock on which seven marriages have now been built, six families have now been based. They have never failed to show us what love for Him and love one for another looks like. From this solid foundation comes two stems of our family tree-- Doug and my mom. Doug and Pam and my parents have maintained and built on what they learned from Grandmother and Grandaddy. They have raised five children in Him and now are influencing grandchildren in the ways of the Lord. The branches extend at the next level in Melissa and Joey, Michelle and Freddy, Kraig and I, Jamie and Megan, and Natalie and Josh. We have seen God's faithfulness in the lives of our parents and grandparents and are establishing our own families in the image of those who came before us. The future, though... the future is in the hands of the limbs. Andrew and Eli, Chloe and Kassidy, Emma and Kelsey, and Elisha, Yasmine, Dylan, and Jacob... they have not yet shown what they are capable of, where they might be called, and whose they will become. They are the test of faith for all of us, to see if they too will allow Him to guide and direct their paths to spouses who love them, fulfilling careers and a lifelong sense of wonder at His provision.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
Psalm 103:16-18