Meet our Family Tree!
Last weekend our small family of 118 (so far) decided to have a REUNION!! #Rodrigada2013
I was thrilled to meet many cousins I had just heard of before. Although I had no idea at first of how many people we were talking about, I knew we would be more than a handful.
Sure enough we get to our dear Aunt/Uncle’s house and it’s already packed. They rented party tables, waiters, cooks, etc they did a great job being the hosts…but all this for a ‘simple family meeting’? Well of course! We had not been able to see some for decades, others we had not yet met, FAMILY is worth CELEBRATING! Uncles and cousins, great-aunts and grandparents, fathers and daughters, newly weds and those celebrating more than 50 years of marriage, there was a great mix, full of life, full of color and full of joy.
Of course we had to have MARIACHI!
After meeting and greeting and hugging, we finally got started with the program. The oldest of my grandmother’s brothers gave some wise words to all of us. For some it was like a history class, learning a lot of facts about where we came from, and for others it was a sweet reminder. But one thing we all did for sure, we sat in awe of what a great ministry my great-grandfather(GGF) and great-grandmother(GGM) started.
We joined the Mariachi!
Something that started with just the 2 of them. Later became a ministry of 100’s. Their children (6) heard of God, the Bible and the work of Christ in reconciling sinful men to God through the Cross, from GGF & GGM! It started with being faithful in their marriage, in their own relationship with God, then being courageous in confronting their children with this loving truth, and their children to their own children and so on, until the 4th generation!
THAT IS FAITHFULNESS!
More than celebrating family, differences, joys, tears, life…we were celebrating FAITHFULNESS. God was so merciful and faithful with our family that everyone of us (118) can say that we have heard of our great God!
In the end I understand that faith is personal and it starts with little daily decisions that will later on become life changing ones, faithfulness adds up into something marvelous worth celebrating! We are not a perfect family, but we have been taught about The One who is Perfect, our Savior and Father.
MARRIAGE IS MINISTRY
One of our aunts mentioned this verse…
Joshua 2.6-10
When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served theLord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
All of this makes me wander, were GGF & GGM thinking of their great-grand children when they decided to teach their kids about God? Unfortunately I didn’t get to meet them to ask this question face to face, but I’m very thankful for their small acts of obedience that translated into blessings for their future generations! The amazing part of God’s faithfulness in the past is that we had nothing to do with it, we could not ask for it, but He IS faithful, He is faithful in the past, today and tomorrow. So I’m thankful for grace in our yesterdays, peace in our hearts today and strength for tomorrow, because His faithfulness never ends!
Now our responsibility as the newest generation, is to pray for each other, that we may keep beholding “all the great work that the Lord had done” for us and serve Him with our whole hearts. One day, if God allows us, we will start our own ministry as well!
Some of the bisnietas (great grand daughters)
Here are more verses about generations in the Bible,
Luke 1:50
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
Psalm 106:31
And that was counted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
Psalm 79:13
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
[joyful] rhapsody 
