“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.” Isaiah 51:1
As Christians, we ought never to overlook our heritage. It helps us to understand our identity, and it gives us a sense of where God is leading us.
So says Henry Blackaby, author of my favorite devotional Experiencing God Day by Day – and I am singing AMEN to his words!
One of my favorite “finds” in my ancestral history is my great-great grandfather William Duncan McDonald. Originally, my mother had one small black-and-white photo of him and his wife in front of their home in the 1920’s. They were stick figure size – I could only see white hair and no distinct face or sense of what they looked like up close. And my mom only knew one humorous anecdote about him which was handed down by her mother. And remember, her mother would have been a granddaughter to him.
That’s it. Ho-hum. Name and dates and place of residence – that’s about the sum of it.
Until…I began to take genealogy classes and ended up in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with my instructor giving us a hands-on experience. I “FOUND” my great-great grandfather and his wife in a huge book. It was a Grayson County collection of stories of early pioneers. Around the bi-centennial (1976) years, many counties and cities were spurred to collect these stories and publish them in anthology type books.
I just pulled this book off the shelf and checked the index – there was their name! I flipped to the page and there was a full page with their name on it plus 3 photos of the two of them at different stages in their lives. Plus a synopsis of my great-great-grandfather’s life – a few paragraphs rich with info:
William Duncan McDonald –
–enlisted in Army 8/26/1855 at Atlanta, GA at age 19
–assigned 1st Cavalry C / discharged 8/28/1860
–wed Rebecca Elizabeth Cameron, Sept 01, 1861, Pilot Grove, Texas
–joined Confederate Army 2/20/1862
–captured at Pleasant Hill 4/9/1864; released from prison at end of war
–returned to Texas (Whitewright) and they had 14 children born, losing 4 in childhood
–became a farmer, sold his cotton to buy lumber to build their home
His obituary that I found at a later date recites info that brings me to my big question about him –
In early manhood Mr. McDonald was converted and joined the Baptist Church, and he served this church for many years as a minister. While he was a farmer by occupation, he found time to preach the Gospel, and in the pioneer days of this section went from place to place, preaching to the people. He was loved and honored by all who knew him and was a useful man to his community.
Big question: What happened, and when, to this U.S. Army soldier who served at Ft. Leavenworth fighting Indians, killing buffalo, and escorting settlers moving west for 5 years and who then spent another 5 years as a Confederate soldier finally captured and held as a prisoner? What turned him into the itinerant minister of his later adult years? What was he like? What was important to him? What were his life lessons he would share with us, his descendants? Oh, how I yearn to know these things.
Blackaby reminds us that we do have the Scripture to give us our rich heritage of the Israelites, the nation begun as a result of Abraham and Sarah’s faithfulness. Generations that followed are outlined for us – with strong leaders such as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Deborah, Samuel, David and Jeremiah.
Of course, there were times where God’s people forgot their heritage and they lived, as Blackaby puts it, as “spiritual paupers rather than as heirs to a rich heritage and members of a royal priesthood.”
Then Blackaby really socks it to us as he reminds us our spiritual ancestors include Mary the mother of Jesus, John the Baptist, the disciples, the apostle Paul and a host of other saints down through the ages. And he suggests many of us may have a family history of faithfulness that goes back several generations.
Punch line? Blackaby delivers it for me – he says: “God wants you to participate in His continuing work to redeem a lost world. Your obedience today will provide a legacy of faithfulness to the generations that follow.”
In a recent blog, I walked you through how to get a free account in a Family Search resource that could very possibly have your family tree with lots of info just waiting for you to discover it. Did you check it out? Would you like to get some more hints, tips and ideas to help with your own managing of your family history treasures?
I said in that blog to “stay tuned” as I was working on creating a group of family history enthusiasts to share tools, tips, trainings, genealogy helps and just encouragement to get our family histories digitized and preserved for generations to come. And discover even more of your family history!
Well, it’s time! I am starting with a “toe in the water” testing of a weekly single focus idea/hint/tool/tip. If you have even a slight interest, or more, click the green button below to check it out. Join me in searching out and saving the heritage that is ours – one step at a time!
