My family tree has deep roots, some broken branches, and a few nuts and fruits hanging on for dear life! (Yes, I might be one of the nuts.) My biological family tree includes a mother who was an orphan – abandoned by her parents as a child but raised by godly Christian grandparents who held the limb together by the grace of God. I can hear my mother’s story in the words of a song, “There’s mercy in the soil, mercy in the sun. Learning to forgive, what cannot be undone. And what was meant to harm can’t harm you in the end. (She) stepped out on a limb (she) thought might break but love said, ‘It will only bend, it will only bend.’”
If you were to draw your family tree, what would it look like? What is your family story? I’d love to hear it! How did God’s mercy change your family tree? How has God used your experiences to plant seeds of hope in someone else’s broken life? Your story was meant to be shared, to give hope and encourage someone else.
Recently I taught a youth small group at church where some of our Children’s Home kids attend. I asked the youth to write down one need a teenager might have on an index card. I told them it could be in general or personal. It was up to them, and they didn’t have to sign their name. One of our girls wrote the following: “I need to belong.” She signed her name. She wanted me to know who she was; to pay attention.
Oh you and I have seen it before. Some kids with a broken family tree, shallow roots and no one who believes in them are treated differently. These are the kids who have been written off. But, God writes people in. Some kids respond to family brokenness in defiance and are treated differently based on their past performance. But God sees their future potential. Instead of seeing their sin He sees the image of God. When children are treated like labels, we strip them of their individuality and complexity. We may assume bad stories end badly. But, Jesus is in the business of turning bad beginnings into happily ever afters.
Allison Krause recorded a song with these words: “When God dips his pen of love in my heart and he writes my soul a message He wants me to know. His spirit all divine fills this sinful soul of mine when God dips his love in my heart.” I love that! That’s how stories get rewritten and family trees are mended.
I believe deeply that there’s “mercy in the soil and mercy in the sun.” Nothing is more exciting that to hear of stories that have been rewritten? What’s your story? Has it been rewritten? “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Phillipians 1:6