Four Generations

My grandmother is visiting from New Mexico, so Sunday afternoon we had a little get-together at my Mom's house. There were four generations there: my grandmother, my mom, my sister and I and our children. It was a very nice visit. My grandmother is such a loving and caring person. I miss having her nearby all the time.

Since I am considered the historian of the family, I brought a little tape recorder so I could continue to get my grandmother's accounts of her youth. One of the questions asked was about her dad, my great grandfather. We wanted to know what stood out about his character. There were several things she loved about him, but one point my grandmother mentioned was that he taught her and her sister to be a close family.

That trait has carried on through the generations. My Mom taught me, and I in turn, am teaching my kids, that family is very important. It takes on a greater significance when I was reminded that my great grandfather did not have any family. His mother died before he was married, and prior to that for reasons not really clear, he lived with several guardians. No wonder he wanted to make his home a wonderful and warm place for his children.

The book of Exodus records God telling the Israelites that He would visit "...the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." Ex. 34:7 That is understandable since the consequences of our sins will be handed down to the generations that follow.

But what I took away from my time with my grandmother this weekend was that there are many good things that the generations pass down, too. In my case, one of those is love of family.

Have you thought about the good things your family has passed down? What will you pass on to your children and grandchildren?