What Are the Pillars of Your Family History?

When Carnegie Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, was razed back in 1964, Carl Martin picked up 16 limestone drums and loaded them into his truck. The Martin Family later ...  read more

Writing Your Family Stories

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- by Mary May Larmoyeux –

Not too long ago, a good friend, Karen Jordan, and I taught a four-week writing workshop  “Capture Your Story.” One week we talked about preserving our family stories for future generations, especially... read more.

He has done great things

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

I still remember when a friend and I ate lunch together and talked about passing down family stories. She referred to a passage in Psalms 78 that tells about the importance of sharing spiritual stories.

"We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord," says Psalm 78:4. "His power, and the wonders he has done.”

The Bible paraphrase The Message says it this way (verses 1-4): “ … I'll let you in on the sweet old truths, stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother's knee. We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation—God's fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done.”

It is up to us to pass on family stories—especially ones about God intervening in our lives and homes. We can share these stories with the grands while washing dishes together, taking a relaxing walk, or going on a drive. We can record our stories and burn them on a CD, or write them down in notebooks. … We can even do something very simple—jot them down in our Bibles.

For years I've jotted down things I want to remember in my Bible—births, weddings, deaths. Memories such as,“God protected a child on from a terrible wreck when he did a 360 degree turn on a wet freeway and ended up in a ditch,” “God protected my husband when a car burst into flames 3-4 feet from a propane tank by his office,” “God protected a son and his wife when they had a gas leak in their house,” and on, and on, and on.

Whenever I read in my Bible how God has protected and led our family, I remember that He has done great things ... marvelous things. I'm also reminded that I can trust God for today and tomorrow.

Stories of His past faithfulness engrave the hearts of our families with this message. And what a wonderful message to share with our families as Thanksgiving approaches. Nothing is impossible for God! (Luke 1:37)

Have a great week,

Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/

http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

© by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

© Photographer: Noriko Cooper / Dreamstime.com

Perceptions of a Generation

Tuesday's Thought (June 10, 2008)

When I was telling a Bible story this past Sunday to a group of 3-5 year-old children, I was reminded of how perceptions change with every generation.

Before telling about Ruth gathering grain to make bread (Ruth 2:1-23), I asked the kids if the people living in that time could buy bread from a grocery store. “Yes,” they said and nodded their heads in agreement.

Ummm, I thought, we’ve got to cover a few basics before beginning this story.

The group of 3-5 year olds couldn't imagine a time without grocery stores. And guess what? As a child, I couldn’t envision a world without cars and trucks. And today’s kids won’t be able to imagine life without computers and cell phones.

As grandparents, I think it’s important for us to help the next generation understand how the world has changed over the years … and is still changing. And that means helping our grands understand what the world was like for our grandparents, parents, and us—telling stories about our lives.

When my grandkids come over this week, I think I’ll hold up a loaf of bread and ask them if grocery stores have always existed.

You know, it might be fun to do something I haven’t done in years and years—get out my great-grandmother’s recipe for homemade bread and bake a few loaves.