Passing It On

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, my mind drifts through the many past holidays spent with family and friends. The good memories sometimes escape us as we go through the trials and hardships that come our way on this journey. With that...I would invite you find a way to make sure your family stories are shared and and passed on so that future generations can weave a tapestry of family history that is so important in the transient society of today.
For myself, I keep a journal for each of my children. I don't write in all of them every week...sometimes not every month...but in each one there are glimpes of myself, special memories of them, a history of what is going on in the world around them, my dreams and prayers for each of them, and (yes) a few bits of "wisdom" from their older, wiser mother.

Below you will find a story taken from a wonderful devotional that I think any military family would enjoy..perhaps a lovely Christmas gift or just an "I love you".
Have a Blessed and Peaceful Thanksgiving!


November 7
The Family Line

Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation. + JOEL 1:3

A genealogical study on the Pace family led us to discover that my husband's ancestors were carpenters and woodworkers. This was especially interesting since his grandfather actually was a furniture maker who passed the business to my husband's uncle, who then passed the family business to his son. My husband himself has always enjoyed working with wood and has built several lovely pieces of cherished furniture that stand in our home. This same pleasure for building and working with his hands is seen in our youngest son. It is fascinating to study these genealogical threads of talent as gifts and interests are passed from generation to generation.
There are some tangible things I hope will pass from generation to generation to generation in our family. I don't have any valuable family heirlooms, but I hope the pieces of furniture built by Pace hands will continue to be treasured when my husband and I are gone. I also hope the journals I have kept over the years and the Bibles my husband has read and written in will be read and valued by my children. My prayer is that they will see the inner thoughts of an authentic faith. I pray that as they read the words behind the actions, they will see the doubts, the fears, and the imperfections but also the confirmation of what they saw us live--that God was always the center of our lives.
A cherished memory for me is walking by my father's bedroom and seeing him on his knees beside his bed. As a child and teenager in my father's home, I knew it wasn't a show on my behalf. It was an action of his authentic faith that helped attract me to making that faith my own.
In a spiritual sense, I can pass on a legacy of faith to my children. I can pass down stories of God answering prayers for our family. I can pass down values based on biblical principles. I can pass down traditions that illuminate our beliefs. The faith that is so important in the lives of me and my husband, however, must be individually accepted by my children and their children. May it be from generation to generation! ...Brenda
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Father, be glorified in my home today. Help me to communicate a genuine faith that will live on long after I am gone. Remind me that I am not responsible for the salvation of others, but I am responsible to live a life that is built on your saving grace. May our family line continue to have the thread of grace flowing through. + Amen.

Taken from The One Year ® Yellow Ribbon Devotional by Brenda Pace and Carol McGlothlin. Copyright © 2008 by Brenda Pace and Carol McGlothlin. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publisher, inc., Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.