An Ancestry of Faith

Several years ago, I took my elderly mother on a road trip to a family reunion. I learned a lot during those four days of travel with her—about my mother, and about myself—but also about my heritage—my heritage through generations of believing mothers.

My mother, Audrey Roos Gabriel, was raised as a preacher’s kid and trained to be a nurse. Along with Dad, she raised four kids, helped us with homework, drove us to innumerable music lessons, and taught us to love hymns and Jesus.

Her mother, my grandmother, Alice Hamilton Roos, was raised by a widowed mother and was a pastor’s wife for 30 years. Widowed at 58, Grandma taught me about the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father. “I was never afraid,” she would say. “The Lord has always been faithful to me.

Her mother, Melissa Gannaway Hamilton, was raised by a widowed father, married at 16, had ten children, taught Sunday School in the mountains of rural Tennessee, could recite whole chapters of Scripture and many whole Psalms by heart, and taught her children to love Jesus and depend on Him in hard times.

Her mother, Tirzah Ferguson Gannaway, who, when her young husband was conscripted into the Confederate Army during the Civil War, gathered up their three young children and newborn daughter, packed a few belongings and the family Bible, and walked through the forests and foothills of central Tennessee to her parents’ farm, seeking their protection. Tirzah didn’t live to see her children grow to adulthood, but all the family knows the story of how her husband fell in love with her because of her faith in God and her passionate love of the Scripture.

And there was HER mother: Eliza Craig Ferguson. Sadly, I know nothing more than her name and dates. No old photos, no family stories. But I think it’s clear she raised her daughter, Tirzah, to love the Lord, and I can surmise that she, too, loved Jesus as her Savior.”

And so there you are–at least 5 generations of mothers teaching their children about God’s love, praying with and for them, and praying for the generations to come. And I am the next in line. Bryan and I taught our kids about the grace of our Savior while they were growing up—prayed with them and for them—even as now they each pray for their children.

I am writing about this heritage because I am treasuring more and more the truth of that line from the old hymn, Be Thou My Vision: “Thou mine inheritance, now and always.” HE is my inheritance and has always been so. His grace and mercy were mine long before I was born. There is a sweetness in understanding more and more how my own faith journey is a continuation of the Lord’s long story.

I know that not everyone reading this has that experience. Perhaps you are the first believer in your family line. Perhaps it seems your “faith family tree” begins with you. But the Lord has always had His hand on you—has always planned for your place in His story.

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Read the rest of this post on the PCA women’s enCourage Blog at: women.pcacdm.org/an-ancestry-of-faith

About Kathy

Kathy Chapell is the wife of Dr. Bryan Chapell, mother to four grown and married children, grandmother to six (currently). She has taught preschool music, high school music, private flute and piano lessons, and directed church choirs. She has been a pastor’s wife, professor’s wife, and seminary president’s wife. Kathy is an accomplished musician, seminar speaker, loves to do jigsaw puzzles, and is an avid mystery book reader. Bryan and Kathy have four married children and a growing number of adorable grandchildren. The Chapells live in Atlanta, Georgia.

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