You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them.

Jeremiah 32:18

I’m not the family historian. Fortunately, other members have faithfully gathered helpful information and ancestral stories. I have two amazing grandmothers who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. Their faith that God would care for them remained strong. I also discovered a circuit riding pastor in my lineage, multiple church deacons, a cowboy who drove cattle to feed the confederate army, farmers, school teachers, a whaler, a constable and a physician.

Just last night, however, I realized the men in my father’s lineage had a reputation as “the fighting Kolbs.” In Lithuania, the community named a family in my husband’s ancestry “the terrible Terebayzas.” Sigh, looks like things weren’t always so rosy at home as we’d like to think!

Two principles impress me: 1. We all leave a legacy by the lives we lead. 2. We can choose to stand against the legacy “dropped into our laps.” I desire to live a life that will be a blessing to a thousand generations. That longing influences the decisions I make on a daily basis. I’m grieving the choices ancestors made and the suffering they and those around them experienced. I want to learn from them. Because of who I am in Christ, I have Christ’s strength to interrupt those generational patterns even though the consequences might still impact my life. I also choose to pray over the generations who come behind me. 

Lord, may their lives be blessed by their choice to make You not only their Savior but also the Lord of their lives. May their lives, in turn, bless the next generation. May this pattern of blessing continue onward until You return to bring us all to the ultimate blessing, eternal life with You!  

Linda Les