GENERATIONS TO COME
Papa Judge. That is what my only first cousin, Keena and my brother called our grandfather on my mother’s side of the family. What an amazing man and grandfather he was! He and my grandmother lived in another state. Our family would go there twice a year to see them. I remember in the car, as a child, sitting on my mother’s lap, as we turned the corner before we got to their home-store. She would comb my hair and get me ready to see them. What fun my cousin and I had playing together there! Papa Judge and my grandmother owned and lived behind an old country store with a pot belly stove in the corner. I remember old men sitting by that stove and playing dominoes. My cousin, brother and I could get fudgsicles or a pop out of the old fashion freezer and coke machine, at any time. Papa Judge let us get whatever we wanted. I remember, when we would be ready to head back home, that he would fill a big black purse I had, full of candy from his candy counter. My mother told us about a time that Papa Judge had been “babying” a peach tree, looking forward to the time he could pick that luscious fruit. Well, you guessed it! My cousin and I picked every one of those peaches off that tree, way before they were ready to be picked! Oops! Papa Judge never fussed at us or punished us. He just threw them away. I remember him tickling us and playing whatever our little minds came up with. When we played cards, I remember him pulling out a card from his shirtsleeve at exactly the right moment and us grandkids howling with laughter. He was the best grandfather a little girl could ever have!
I know it is a blessing to be able to have those memories and so many more. There are so many who never even knew their grandparents or have grandparents who they were lucky to not be around. I was blessed to get to know all of my grandparents. They were all amazing. My grandmother taught me how to sew. She helped me sew several tops when I was pregnant with my first son. I was blessed to live close by my other set of grandparents. Thank you, God, that they were all such amazing faithful believers in God!! I feel my family have given me the example of love for God and the Christian examples to follow. So, you are thinking, if I did not have grandparents who followed God, there is no hope for me. Absolutely not! Not saying that at all. We make our own decisions and follow our own paths. Knowing God and following His commandments does not depend on our family, whether they were believers or not. It depends totally, 100%, on our choices and the direction we want to be headed eternally. I have said before, that when we stand before our Lord, we cannot depend on our grandparents, our parents, our spouse or anyone who has been faithful who touched our lives, to get us a free ride into heaven.
In our Wednesday night Bible class at church, we have started a study in Judges. We are only in the fourth chapter and the Bible says several times, “The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.” I would say most of you have heard of Joshua from the Bible. He is the faithful, great leader of the Israelites who said in Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served that were on the other side of the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We see time and time again after a great leader of God, that a generation or even their own children, followed their own path and did not serve the Lord. In Judges 2:10, after Joshua died, the Bible reads, “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, (died) another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord and the work which He had done for Israel.”
Wow! How can that even happen? How can a person live their lives for God in all they do, and then their children-their grandchildren-their great grandchildren do not follow their example of faithfulness to the Lord? Do you have that in your family already? I am sure that will happen in the future generations I will not even know. Is it hopeless? Not at all. In the Old Testament, time and time again, we see the Israelite leaders who were great followers of God, their children fell away from God and we see that their future generations did the same. But then, once again, we see a great leader appear who follows and serves God.
We see, in the news, the people who have been arrested for the assault on the capital and the police, how destructive and the hate that they are showing because of their actions. As a mother and grandmother, I have thought, I wonder what their mother and grandmother are saying right now about their actions? Can their parent or grandparent say they are proud to call them a family member? Do you think they are telling others that destructive, lawless person is related to them? What about generations to come, what will they think? Will they see God in the actions that were done on that day? We see from the past and from the present, that there are people who follow God all their lives and then a generation after them, turns away from God. The good turning to bad, has always been. Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 says “That which has been is what will be. That which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘see this is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after.”
So, what hope is there if any? Of course, there is as long as there is breath in our lungs! How can we as followers of God help those family members or those who will come in the future, to follow your example of living with God and having God in your heart? The Bible tells us that falling away from God and then those who live for God, has always been in history.
You are waiting for me to give you some magical answers. But I cannot. All I can say is as long as there is breath in your lungs, continue to be a good example. Continue to have hope in your heart for their souls. Continue to serve through your actions, of what a follower of God should be. Continue to pray for them and future generations. Be transparent with your failures and your sinfulness. No one is perfect or without sin in their lives. And what I have had to realize, is that especially, when they become an adult, they make their own choices and follow their own path, no matter what type of example you are or have been for them. It is all in our own hearts that leads us to service for the Lord. Can a parent or grandparent be the one who leads your family to God? Of course, but it is the individual’s decision whether to continue in that faithfulness.
So, what does this have to do with my Papa Judge? It has everything to do with my Papa Judge and other family members, who have been a good example of faithfulness to me. But it also has everything to do with whether I follow their example or not. I make my own choices. God has given us that right-that privilege. Just like, this country has given us the freedom to follow what is right or, as the horror at the capitol building showed, to take advantage of that freedom and what it truly means.
All I can do is to serve and follow God to the best of my ability. Will I make wrong choices that could affect future generations? Yes, but the final answer is everyone chooses their own path. All I can do is to serve and follow God to the best of my ability until the last breath leaves my body.
I know that I was blessed to have previous generations who followed God and taught me by their examples what living a Christian life is like. There are so many who have overcome the challenge of not having those examples and they became amazing leaders of God.
I was blessed several years ago, to go to that shell of a store that I have so many fond memories. I could visualize that old stove in the corner of the store and the men who sat there playing dominos. Both my grandparents are buried in the little cemetery at that corner that so many years ago, I remember my mother combing my hair as I sat on her lap. The trees at that corner do not seem as big as I remember when I was a child. That generation has left this earth and are now in the arms of our Lord. I pray that sometime through the generations to come in my family, that they will have heard about me and I can still reach through time and help them in, some way to know their God. The picture at the first of this blog, is my papa judge and me. I was upset about something and he is trying to make it better. Many years have gone by since this picture was taken but when I look at it now, I can feel the love reaching through the years. I try to keep him alive through telling my grandchildren about him. When I look in my oldest sons’ eyes, I see the reflection of the powder blue eyes my grandfather had.
Papa Judge, thank you for being that amazing grandfather and example of a godly man for me and generations to come. I hope I can also be that type of influence to generations to come.
Till next time! Keela