Moses was arguably the mightiest leader the Hebrews had ever followed, yet God prepared Joshua to accomplish what not even Moses had achieved. Henry Blackaby’s devotional on this prodded me, big time.
And his illustration added another key example: David’s reign marked a high point for Israel, yet it was Solomon who carried out the task denied to his father David, building the spectacular temple.
His point? God has limitless ways to accomplish His will. As he shared, God always has another Moses, Elijah or David. But I love Blackaby pointing out that the “heroes of the faith had one thing in common: they were all ordinary people with no power of their own.”
So what is “His will” that was catching my attention? It is my “marching orders” set of verses found in Deuteronomy which has been the guiding light for my Family History focus in my business:
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe…so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Deuteronomy 6:1-2 (this is right after delivery of the 10 Commandments)
In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…. He brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land He promised on oath to our ancestors. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive….that will be our righteousness.” Verses 20-25
As I learned more about the resources for safeguarding the genealogy documents I had inherited as well as what I gathered myself in the past years, I realized the problems. After taking courses on genealogy, joining a local genealogical society, and several trips to Salt Lake City’s Family History Library to do research, I had a lot of “stuff”. But where was it?
The photos were in a photo program that I had to back up with external hard drives or a cloud program like Carbonite. The data I gathered had to be typed into my Family Treemaker software program. And the documents, notes and photocopies of resources were in big 3-ring binders.
All over the place – and yes, not organized for easy retrieval. Boxes and boxes of items in my basement, and a full-blown guilt at the messy shape they were in, plus many broken promises to myself that I would set aside hours/a day/whatever it takes to get it all “in shape”. When I would finally start to tackle it, I was stymied by not knowing how I could organize it all.
Then a recent trigger occurred. I overheard someone ask her friend who took lots of photos if she was paying the $1.99 per month for Google storage of her photos. Plus, not long ago, I finally transferred what I wanted out of Dropbox and canceled the annual $180 subscription.
The questions that plagued me in the past are now getting louder in my ear as my age advances:
Who will take this over when I am no longer around? I have wonderful kids and gkids but I know they don’t have the same passion I have for our Family History legacy. Will they remember where I stored photos? Could they manage my Family Treemaker software (I had to get help and practice to use it myself)? Would they keep paying for whatever subscription storage I have (like Carbonite) – or even know where it is?
A horror story of my friend who is also a FOREVER ambassador comes to mind. She had a client in her 80’s whose son had come to pack her up and move her closer to him. She called my friend asking if she wanted some of the scrapbook materials she had but also mentioned that her son would not take her boxes containing years of genealogy research. My friend went over there in person and asked if she could take the genealogy boxes on the client’s behalf. The son refused and pitched the boxes in the trash receptacle. Her heart broke as does mine when I hear this story and realize it is far too common.
What if a disaster (flood, fire, plumbing incident, or just deterioration) occurred impacting my physical Family History items? Five houses down the street just this year experienced an upstairs water heater failure that flooded and destroyed all the contents of the home (in the middle of the night the kitchen ceiling fell and alerted them). They are still living in a motel as repairs continue and it has been months – and the husband told me all basement contents were ruined.
How can I reconstruct the lost items if disaster occurs? This is an obvious “I can’t” – only the items I have digitized and are in my FOREVER permanent storage will survive, including my mother’s family and ancestor photobooks I have now digitized and saved in FOREVER permanent digital storage (not rented but owned).
So, enough “gloom and doom”. On to solutions…
It was only 4 years ago that I learned about FOREVER permanent storage – a permanent place to store and share digital memories: secure, private and protected by a Guarantee Fund (like an endowment for an institution). I jumped on it in a heartbeat.
What was most important to me? While privacy was key, the promise of the guarantee for my lifetime plus 100 years gave me peace – what I created in there would be available for future generations without my kids and gkids having to lift a finger or pay a dime. The guarantee promised changing of modalities and sharing with my family as I like.
So, yes, I started working to transfer the most precious family history photos and documents. I found I needed a system, a structure in the storage that fit my genealogy research training and made access as well as adding to it easy and quick. It took lots of experimenting and collaborating with other ambassadors and I have now honed it down to the Family History Bootcamp.
After delivering this week-long course multiple times, my great audience has helped me refine the Family History Bootcamp even more. And it is time to deliver it once again.
Back to Joshua, and God’s preparation of him to be the one to take the lead and finish the journey – no small task. Blackaby says God’s direction to Joshua “might have caused him some concern.” No kidding! Joshua must have wondered how in the world he could follow Moses’ act of leadership. The answer? Blackaby reminds us it was God’s assurance to Joshua that Moses’ accomplishments had all been due to God’s presence – the same God that would walk with Joshua.
Here’s the point I count on – Blackaby reminds me that the same God who walked with Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Peter, James, John and Paul now lives within me! And perhaps you! The God who blessed them is just as capable of working out His purposes through our lives. Not only that, He is prepared to work as powerfully in our lives today. Beautiful assurance.
I have a great-great grandfather I have been researching whose story from Indian fighter to Civil War soldier and prisoner, to later becoming an itinerant preacher is a faith story that inspires me no end. No matter what stories you have, but especially your own will have, there is inspiration, encouragement, enrichment and powerful blessings you can only imagine to be shared with your family and descendants.
Love Blackaby’s words – “Times may change, but the effect of God’s presence remains the same.” He is there for you and me as we follow his commandment in Deuteronomy to share that faith history with our children and their children and future children.
My question to you, and me, (as Blackaby words it): “Will we be a part of God’s activity….?” I love Blackaby’s assurance that if “you walk with God in this manner, you will grow in spiritual strength and be used mightily by Him.” Join me in blessing our future generations! Check it out at Bootcamp – Candy McCune
