Family Matters

I was asked to proofread an appendix of genealogy for a book that is being reprinted. I ignorantly said I would do it, not realizing what I was getting in for. 

Q:How do you proofread genealogy? 

A: By looking up every name and date to be sure it is correct. 

It is slow tedious work and has consumed the last six weeks of my life. I am currently in the Weavers so there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel. I have made some interesting observations in the process. 

1. There was a high rate of infant mortality in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Very few families did not have at least one infant death and often more than one. There were also many deaths of children under the age of ten. Because of the advance in medical science, infants and children that once would have had no chance are now able to survive. 

2. The practice of using the mother's maiden name for a middle name makes tracking people easier. If a man had children with two wives, the middle initial helps confirm which children belonged to which wife. That practice has not totally disappeared but began to fade out with my generation as children were given two names. 

3. What a blessing the belief in the permanence of marriage has been to our families! I have come across one or two divorces so far. Otherwise, a second marriage was always after the death of the first partner. Tracing genealogy is much easier when there is only one father and mother per family, even if they had fifteen children. 

In the mixed up society around us today, I wonder how people will begin to trace their genealogy a hundred years from now. There are families with children who all have different fathers, and worse still are children who were born to same sex couples by unnatural methods. Their father was a sperm donor and they will never know who he was or where they came from.

God designed marriage to provide order in society. When we violate His rule of marriage being one man and one woman for life, we create chaos that worsens with every generation. How did  we get to the place where LGBT voices are even being heard? How did things which were once shameful and hidden become open and even considered normal? I believe it began with divorce and remarriage being accepted as normal. Jesus said point blank that remarriage after divorce is adultery. When churches disregarded that and allowed divorced members to remarry, the breakdown of society spiraled down rapidly. 

God's plan for marriage and families is for our good and blessing. It gives security to children and structure to society. I was blessed to be born into a family and church that follows God's standards in family matters. May we never compromise those standards!