History

In Virginia last week we spent some time taking our grandchildren to several historical sights. Virginia is filled with history of our country because much of our country's history began there. The state has posted markers telling what happened in each place and there are hundreds of them along the roads.

We visited the Virginia Airplane Museum near Virginia Beach. Our grandson is very interested in airplanes. Both children enjoyed seeing the old planes and hearing stories about the planes. We also visited the American Civil War Museum and toured the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA. On our final day there we went to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and toured his home on a hill that overlooks the thousands of acres he owned.

The history of our country includes a lot of sad chapters on slavery. Jefferson owned about 600 slaves during his lifetime. Many worked in his elaborate gardens and helped care for the Jefferson children. Slaves ran Jefferson's nail manufacturing business also.

"As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy," (Psalm 123:2 NIV).

History teaches us about earlier cultures and how we came to be as we are now. We can learn from our ancestors and avoid the mistakes they made if we study our history and follow the Word from the Bible. Thank you, God for preserving our history. Amen.