Searching

 I love doing genealogy research.  Looking back into my family, trying to remember those stories I heard with only one ear listening as my mother and her siblings talked sounds as though it might be frustrating, but truly is fun for me.

  My biggest difficulty is finding one 3rd great grandfather.  I know that Needham Bowen (1812-1870) of Telfair Co Ga is my 2nd great grandfather.  But there is a question as to who was his father.  I believe it was Edward Bowen who moved from Duplin NC sometime after the  1820 census.  He is found in 1830 in Telfair County, GA. 

   On ancestry there is a group who believe a different person was the father.  To me most of the evidence points to Edward, but I do not have anything that tells me for sure that I am correct since family names are repeated over and over.  I have searched and search still, but cannot find my answer.   One day I will look in the right place and my question will be answered.

 My mother kept good records.  I knew she did lots of research.  Unfortunately for me, she went no further back than Needham.  How I wish I had realized this while she were still here for me to ask.  But most of us who search have this dilemma. 

On another subject, I attended a retreat recently at Laity Lodge in Texas.  In one session we were introduced to drawing our prayers.  Sometimes when bringing someone before God we find that our mind wanders.  For me in meetings I always doodle.  Drawing prayers is much like that.  It is taking our hearts and the things that make it heavy before God and as we pray we doodle.  By allowing our hands to doodle, our minds more easily focus on God and the person or subject we are talking with Him about.  Try it sometime soon.  For me I thought it would be impossible, that it was silly, and, at first, it did feel a bit stilted.  Soon though I found myself completely engaged with both my doodle/drawing and my conversation with my Father God.

Psalm 1:2-3 (MSG) 
Instead you thrill to God's Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.
You're a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.

I like the way the Message translates meditate in this scripture.  Meditate was described to me once when I was a teenager as thinking on a portion of God's Word in the same way a cow chews its cud.   It chews the grass slowly and  over a long period of time.   I am finding that in the same way that I can use my doodling to assist me in praying, I can use it to meditate upon a scripture.  Joshua 1:9 tells us " for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."  The first "then" is referring to verses 7 & 8 where the instruction is to meditate on the Law.

In a way it is the same as searching for something in family history.  It is a problem and you think about the possibilities.  I go over it and over it, looking for some little clue.  That's another way to think about meditating on God's Word.  You go over it and over it, looking for ways to apply it to your life, looking for an answer or marveling at the goodness of God.