We Are Family

As I looked at the calendar this morning I realized that this is my father's heavenly birthday. Corwin Arney Springer was born in 1913 at home in rural Albion, Iowa. He was an only child of Elma Jane Arney Springer and Loyd Hampton Springer. The local doctor left the Springer farmstead and went to assist with the birth at the Marion Clisby Hilsabeck and Effie Eldora Griggs Hilsabeck farmstead just 10 or so miles away. On July 15, 1913, Clara Burneta Hilsabeck was born. Corwin and Clara attended Bethel Grove Church together and eventually married on June 8, 1933.

The portion of my genealogy is shared above to show how unique a person's ancestry can be. Genealogies are given often in the Bible to show how we are all related, beginning with Adam and Eve. Mankind is one flesh and blood. There is no room for prejudice or hatred. Each person is valuable and unique in God's eyes. 

"This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man."" (Genesis 5:1-2 NIV).

Genealogies are so interesting to explore. In my story there is a common tie in my ancestry, John Arney, born in 1798, in both lines of my family going back six generations. That doesn't seem very far back, yet it is more than 200 years. 

God had a plan for each one of us. We are individuals, created through the lineage of God. That makes us all family! How awesome is that! 

Creator God, Father of us all, we worship You this beautiful morning. Today we consider the amazing genealogy of mankind and we feel connected to every other person through Your great plan for man. Your Word shows us the lineage of Jesus,Your Son. We claim our relationship to Christ and others and thank You for our inheritance through Christ. We pray in Jesus' Holy Name, Amen.