A little girl asked her father, “How did the human race start? “The father answered, “God made Adam and Eve and they had children, and so all mankind was made. “Two days later the girl asked her mother the same question. The mother answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved.” The confused girl returned to her father and said, “Dad, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Mom said they developed from monkeys? “The father answered,”Well, dear, it is very simple.I told you about my side of the family and your mother told you about hers.” From: Evolution Creation Adam and Eve Family Tree

My husband and I just returned from a great weekend visit with his cousin and her husband in Arkansas. I always enjoy these visits as they are not only relatives but great friends as well.  

In the evenings they love to reminisce about their childhood and their favorite and sometimes not so favorite relatives of the past. I never knew these people (being an in-law) but I’ve gotten to know “of” them through their many stories.

Being the addict that I am and needing my fix I gravitated to the computer to see if I could take them back one more generation, connect with an unknown cousin or two or locate a forgotten name.  We hit “gold” this trip when we discovered a missing great great grandfather from one of the censuses. It seems he had “gold fever” and headed out to California where he did show up in the census.

I then explained to my  family that the excitement of the “find” and the trip getting there seem to be  my fate -to be the recorder and story teller or our family’s heritage.

At this point our cousin – a biblical history expert – took that thought to the next level.  Since the beginning of time it was important to record the antecedents of Christ through Biblical Genealogy found in Old Testament and with this I knew what my next post would be about.

So my guest blogger this week is Carmen Yarnell Thomas, who was gracious enough to include her thoughts on Biblical Genealogy.

Guest Blog Post by Carmen Yarnell Thomas:

Family visits always bring the subject of ancestry when it’s  my cousin and his wife.  Love the times in front of the computer, discovering new information about family from the past.Sure enough, the topic arose this past weekend when we were in my hometown.  Several of our family is buried in the cemetery there and the question was raised as to the name of an ancestor.  “I don’t know” was the reply…need I tell you that upon our return to my home, we began a search for the name.  All four of us are interested, but Pat and Deb have a passion for the “search”.

To be honest, I don’t think we were able to find the name we were searching for, but we discovered a very interesting, and unknown fact about my great, great grandfather’s family and the California gold rush.  Amazing story unfolded, and of course, more questions.

Fun and exciting as this is, just on the surface, another aspect of the ancestry arose for me.  After several hours, we needed to end our searching and get some sleep.  On the way to bed, the idea came to me regarding the genealogies of the Bible.  Realizing this was no accident…and not of my own mind…I knew that I needed to record our findings in my journal and in an organized way, not just on the paper I had grabbed and scratched out the information.

The idea of the importance of the genealogy records did not leave my mind.  There had to be spiritual implications to our “desire” to keep records and discover our roots.  Throughout the Bible, we find detailed records of families.  In I Chronicles, the family record is indicative of Kings, inheritance and census, etc.  In much the same way, we discovered birth/death, property ownership, places of residence, marriage and order of family.  All these records help us discover who we are and where we come from.  For example, King David’s right to the throne, in human terms, and his heirs’ privilege and rights are established in the genealogy recorded in the Biblical records.

 The genealogy and census done in the book of Nehemiah was necessary in establishing who would live inside the city of Jerusalem after the city was rebuilt.  In the Matthew’s gospel, we find the genealogy of Jesus whose earthly heritage is traced to David, giving Him the right to kingship which would have been invalid in terms of the world without the direct descent being established…notwithstanding the spiritual kingdom.

This prompts many thoughts, questions, and desires to search out my ancestors for reasons far beyond that of whose name precedes mine on the family tree.  Since it is important to have the explicit details of lineage in the Word, then more research is needed, by me at least, to determine other reasons to KNOW about past members of my family.

Family names for Carmen Yarnell Thomas are:
Waggoner, Dye, Meacham, Plant, Richardson, Newby, Newsome, Rhew, Yarnell, De Boise, and Noble

Happy Discoveries!