“Seek and ye shall find,” is a phrase I’ve heard most of my life. It’s taken from Matthew 7:7. Even though this verse refers to finding the Lord, it has been used in connection with searching for just about anything. Nowadays, many people dig into their family history in hopes of discovering who they are and where they came from. Also, they probably hope to find something amazing. My dad did just that years ago and I couldn’t believe it at first.
We went Christmas shopping together so my dad knew what to buy for my daughter Sara. We were eating lunch when he began to talk about doing research into our family’s history on his mother’s side. Now, I already knew they came over from Homberg, Germany and settled in Claiborne County in the 1790s. But, what he found went way back further than that.
Apparently, one of our ancestors was a war hero back in Germany. Because of his service, he had an arranged marriage with a lady from Persia. She may have been nobility. I don’t know what threw me the most: the arranged marriage or the fact that she was Persian. My initial thought was that there was no way this could right. Surely, he had gotten confused. So, I asked what I thought was a plausible mistake: “Don’t you mean Prussia?” After all, that would make more sense since Prussia was a region that used to consist of parts of Russia, Poland, and Germany. He answered: “Nope, it was definitely Persia.” To which I responded: “Daddy, that’s present-day Iran and Iraq.” He just shrugged and kept eating.
The more I thought about it, daddy’s finding began to make sense. It explained why he and mamaw had such beautiful and thick black hair. Many on that side were and still are dark headed. Except for me. I took after my mom and have blonde stick-straight hair. Plus, Dad would come in from working in the yard with a nice tan. I didn’t inherit that either. Like my mom, I burn just by being outside.
That evening, I related dad’s tale to Tim and Sara. They agreed with me that Dad must have gotten confused. Daddy didn’t mention it again and we all forgot about it. That is until Sara had her DNA tested. She was so excited the day she received her results that she called us to tell us what they were. They made sense until she said: “There’s also Mesopotamia. Where is that?” I was blown away. It took a moment for my mind to grasp it. Finally, I told her it’s where present-day Iraq is located. Before I could say anything else, she piped up: “Papaw was right after all.”
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. (KJV)
I have heard many talk about how their lives were changed after learning about their family’s past. In a way, I can understand, but the biggest change in my life was brought about by Jesus. He gave me a new heart and a new and much better way of living my life. If you seek Him out, you will find Him too.
The picture with this article is of my dad and me. It’s a little blurry, but it shows just how black his hair was when he was young. It also shows how blonde and straight mine was.
This is one reason I was glad I was an only child. If there was another child and it inherited daddy’s pretty hair, I wouldn’t have been a happy camper.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.