Thrilled!

In all my years...some odd sixty two of them now, and in my geneology endeavors, I have never once gotten past my paternal grandfather. It was he who brought these efforts to a stand still completely!

My paternal grandfather's lineage always stalled with him.
My cousin from California was here last month and informed me that his daughter (another cousin whom I've never had an occasion to meet), had been in contact with a woman from the UK, where we all knew we'd had our humble beginnings.
He contacted his daughter who then emailed to see if it was alright to submit my email address to this lady in the UK, for which I agreed.

I am SO glad I did!!

She contacted me right away and invited me to her family site on ancestry.com. Ours is on myheritage.com. She had in excess of 4,000 members and information with a direct link to my father's lineage there in England! Needless to say, I was seeing information that I'd never seen before! Pictures that brought it all home for me, and a realization that things that we'd heard as 'rumors' throughout the decades, were indeed true!!
To say I was thrilled with all of this is an understatement, as we'd searched for some truth and sense of belonging for years! Now, here it was right in front of me.
All this new information will keep me busy for a long while as I digest the new found facts of my origin.

How interesting and gratifying to have a sense of beginning and belonging.
And as I think about this, I realize how akin this feeling is, to the absolute sense of 'family' and belonging that comes with an adoption into the family of God.

When we finally 'find our place' in God's family, after possibly a lifetime of just sort of muddling through our days trying to figure out how everything is supposed to work, just where we fit in this vast universal schematic called 'life', and why we should even bother trying to find out... to finally, actually make the discovery that we DO belong somewhere...we have 'connections'.

God's family is not all-inclusive. It is an open door into one of the biggest families of all. The only thing one has to do, is find the right door. When you do, that same thrill that came with the realization that my earthly family ties actually DO exist and go way back and have always existed, and that they include me and my entire family...is an overwhelming thrill.

My lineage had it's beginnings In Egremont, Cumberland, England. But even before that...I believe I have a heavenly 'connection'...that far out-thrills this new found knowledge of mine.

Have a great day everyone, and may you always find your place in this world...and beyond!