From Generation To Generation

Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.

My husband and I were foster parents in our county for six years. During that time, we took in twenty kids. Some came for a month or two, others stayed a year or more, and three we adopted into our family permanently.

When the children first arrived, we generally knew very little about them and their families, but over time, we would often meet parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We would hear stories of past trauma, and of hurt parents caught in unhealthy patterns, in turn wounding their children. Many times it was a cycle of dysfunction passed down from one generation to the next.

And then you’d see it: one child or parent who was determined to do something different than what they’d been taught or known. Someone who wanted a healthier way of life than they’d had. Someone who wanted to break the cycle of abuse or dysfunction.

We’d watch in awe as they made different choices, healthier ones, even when it didn’t feel comfortable at first. They’d leave behind family patterns of drug use and instability, trusting God to lead them to wholeness and health. It wasn’t always a perfect transformation—there were stumbles and missteps along the way—but there was transformation just the same, and it was awesome to behold.

I’m so grateful that God’s faithfulness extends to every generation. It never ends. Our family history—for better or worse—can’t undo it. Even if we come from dysfunction or from long decades of unhealthiness, with God’s help, we can choose something different going forward. We are not bound to the past. Each day, we can make better choices than yesterday. With God’s strength and his promise to be with us, we can believe that better days are coming both for us and for those who’ll come after us.

Kendra

Today’s Act of Gratitude

What unhealthy patterns have you been able to change with God’s help? Thank God for his faithfulness to you and your family.