I have been researching family names now for years. I grew up going to cemeteries with my grandparents, It all started when I was a little boy,
I found that I could get the adults to talk to me and really open up when I would ask them
questions about old pictures that were in the house or at the cemetery. I also would hear wonderful stories that my
grandparents would tell me of their families and parents and grandparents. What started off as a
hobby turned into a passion. The old pictures in the scrapbooks I would see in my great aunts and
uncles always fascinated me. Family reunions were my favorite times. I remember being a young
historian, standing up in front of everyone at the church reunions and telling the congregation
what I had learned. I began to study the field of genealogy through books written by the experts
and many visits to the libraries. Genealogy has been a life-long passion, almost a spiritual
quest. Though the Bible admonishes us not to `woship` our ancestors, it does say we should not
forget who they are. A large part of the Bible is taken up with family lineages, and I believe
they are still very important to us all today. Knowing who we are and where we came from goes a
long way to helping us feel like we belong to something larger than ourselves -- we belong in the
history of mankind. I also pray that all of us will come to the acceptance of Christ as our
Savior, our Lord, and our Coming King, and be not only members of one family here -- but, members
of the eternal family of God.

I have been researching family names now for years. I grew up going to cemeteries with my grandparents, It all started when I was a little boy,
I found that I could get the adults to talk to me and really open up when I would ask them
questions about old pictures that were in the house or at the cemetery. I also would hear wonderful stories that my
grandparents would tell me of their families and parents and grandparents. What started off as a
hobby turned into a passion. The old pictures in the scrapbooks I would see in my great aunts and
uncles always fascinated me. Family reunions were my favorite times. I remember being a young
historian, standing up in front of everyone at the church reunions and telling the congregation
what I had learned. I began to study the field of genealogy through books written by the experts
and many visits to the libraries. Genealogy has been a life-long passion, almost a spiritual
quest. Though the Bible admonishes us not to `woship` our ancestors, it does say we should not
forget who they are. A large part of the Bible is taken up with family lineages, and I believe
they are still very important to us all today. Knowing who we are and where we came from goes a
long way to helping us feel like we belong to something larger than ourselves -- we belong in the
history of mankind. I also pray that all of us will come to the acceptance of Christ as our
Savior, our Lord, and our Coming King, and be not only members of one family here -- but, members
of the eternal family of God.