For this reason I kneel before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

Ephesians 3:14-15

You don’t have to get too far into the Bible before you realize that family is extremely important to God. From the beginning, God desired to bring us into His family even when God already had perfect unity within the Godhead. God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are perfect within themselves. In other words, God was not sitting up in Heaven bored until He made us, He just chose to. From Genesis to Revelation we can see the perfect plan emerge and how He always desired to have us as part of His family. The nation of Israel is God’s chosen people, the apple of His eye, His firstborn. For those of us whose descendants are not from the nation of Israel we have been grafted in through the work of Christ. Thanks be to God! Not only that ; He has given us an inheritance that will never fade away! An unshakable one! “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.”

Hebrews 12:28

Even after God’s people got it all wrong so many times, God still longed to be close to them. He revealed His unfailing love through His prophets over and over again. The prophet Jeremiah declared of the Lord,

“For this is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:10-13

Family is important to us Smith Islanders as well. Some of us still carry the names of the first settlers; Smith, Marshall, Tyler and Evans. For many years, 134 to be exact, our annual camp meetings has been our biggest event. It always falls on the last week of July into the first week in August. Families still come back home for Smith Island camp meeting, even those who have moved off the island many years prior. Some of my fondest memories were of camp meeting time growing up as a child. Camp meeting is still a time of homecoming, fellowship, revival messages, singing and delicious meals.

Some families could keep that feeling of togetherness all year long. My family was one of them. My husband and I would take our new family down to my childhood home. Sunday’s after dinner we would have dessert and coffee and plenty of great conversation with my mother, father, my siblings and their families. Every Sunday without fail. As it so happens, my husband’s family had the same mindset, meeting together throughout the week. Smith Islanders are big on family and I can say without hesitation that I benefited from that.

Marrying someone who was also from Smith Island has been a real game changer! We understand each other. We have similar backgrounds which means we have a lot in common. A big advantage!

Since my my mother and father passed on we haven’t been having our usual Sunday gatherings but a few weeks ago my family got together and the topic of ancestry came up. It lit a fire under me to work on my genealogy again. I had started and stopped back in 2013. I traced my paternal side back as far as the early 1600’s but it came to a halt when I realized I could be related to Thomas Savage, who is called Ensign or Ancient Planter. At the age of 13 or so he came over on the first supply ship called “The John and Francis” captained by Christopher Newport. The young Thomas was left in Jamestown to learn the language and ways of the Algonquin tribe. He was left in the care of Chief Powhatan and Chief Powhatan‘a son, Namatuck went with Newport back to London to learn from the English. I had to stop and take this in… If Thomas Savage was my ancestor I should devote more time to this than what I had. Could one of my ancestors be someone so influential in the history of this nation?

Since I picked it back up again this month I discovered that Thomas Savage is in fact my ancestor and he is actually called the first English settler to America! He is called, “Ensign” because he learned the language of the Indians and this proved very useful to both the English and the Indians for negotiations. His granddaughter, Grace married Dr. George Corbin I, my eighth great-grandfather who is also considered a pioneer, coming to America from England.

These findings are precious to me now. When I first started dabbling in my genealogy I did so half-heartedly but now It has really gave me a sense of pride in who I am and where I came from. All of our days are ordained by God and He gave us a wonderful story. A story that always circles back to Himself.

On this 4th of July let’s be thankful for our families and who we are, remembering that we are included in God’s family and that we have a legacy that will stand the test of time.

-Carole Ann Landon

Blog Post #3

Pictures from my personal family album and wikitree.com and family search.org