My Genealogy Search

I have a two week free trial on ancestry.com  that ends tomorrow. I’ve spent hours on it looking into my family history on my moms side, because I had no knowledge of who they were and where they came from.  I now know I have lineage from the French Huguenots who came to America in 1700, fleeing persecution.  (I thought I should have done better in my college French class if this was the case).  I found myself in Ireland and I also have now hit Royalty in England and France.  Pretty crazy, huh?  At the same time I was doing this search I have been in an early Gen study, blogging thoughts from the life of Eve.  I felt so connected to her, but of course she is the mother of all living. I do share her story.    Then I read an article from a Yale statistician that claims if we are from European descent, then we all have connection to royalty in Europe.  It’s a math thing, (I really wouldn’t understand) but the implications were big. It’s big because we think of our ancestors in isolated lines, not so huge like the atomic mushroom looks, all encompassing.  We have so much more in common than we think.  Here’s the link to that article, if you’re intrigued.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/05/the-royal-we/2497/

I think we all desire to feel special, wanted, memorable.  Sometimes genealogy searches are more for validation than interest.  In truth, we are all special and memorable and wanted because we were created by God. After seeing my line of ancestors, I didn’t feel more “special”.  Instead, I read the specific names and was curious about them individually.  I was more curious about the specific times in history that they lived.  What were their struggles?  I think I probably have the same inclinations and humanness that they did, we just dress differently. 🙂 There can be no pride from who I came from because that choice wasn’t mine. So, I guess all in all, I’m reminded of our connectedness as humans, the perseverance and frailty that we all have in common, and most importantly, the reality that our decisions impact so many others…around us and behind us. What are the decisions that I will make that will impact my descendants for good?  It was weird because I had duplicity of thoughts: 1. A lot of choices are up to me, 2. No choice was mine in deciding my lineage .  It reiterated in my mind these two truths: God is sovereign, and yes, I have a will. Both make history.