Connected

In the busyness of December, it is a small therapy to be still and to gather my thoughts.  I’m liking the freedom of “five minute Fridays“–it’s about as much time as I have to focus on any one thing.  So here’s today’s offering on the prompt Connected:

The family tree project:  two down, four to go.  This is part of the ninth grade curriculum.  The names fill the page–hundreds of names telling the story of who we are.  They form our connection to a war torn Europe.  To the saints in Leiden.  To a castle in England.  To ships sailing on a churning ocean in hopes of a better way.

My daughter is a whole life sculpted by names.  German and French names.  Swiss and English names.  A mosaic of genes passed down, dominant, recessive, joining and pointing to a future generation.

I know many of the stories hidden in the branches:  weddings celebrated and marriages broken.  Children received with joy and some mourned as they were laid in an early grave.  Degrees earned and jobs lost.  There are parts joy and sorrow in every life.

All this ache of a fallen world and we long to be with Him, this One who has grafted us in and written our names on His branches.  We celebrate His coming, our Savior who acquainted Himself with grief so that He might know a future joy, so that we might know a future joy.  Oh that I might treasure these things in my heart today.