Heritage

I was asked to speak about our Dutch heritage at a special tea held in Ohio at our daughter’s church.

My grandparents came to America from Holland aboard  the “Noordam” steamship, with eight little ones in tow.  They left a beautiful country filled with flowers, canals and  lush, green grass.  After passing through Ellis Island, they ended up on the dusty, dry farmland of South Dakota.  It was a very hard adjustment for my grandmother.  Once in America, they had four more children of which my father was the youngest.

David and I went to Holland for our fortieth wedding anniversary.  We walked through the little town where my grandmother lived.  I tried to imagine what it must have been like to leave this beautiful country, family and friends and set out for a foreign land.  I tried to think how I’d feel knowing I’d never see my loved ones again on this earth.  I wondered what my grandparents would think if they could see  the generations after them,  coming back to their homeland, trying to find some traces of their heritage.  We walked through a graveyard and I found a tombstone with the “Kredit” name on it (my maiden name).  But I couldn’t find anything more about our family.  The “old” people are almost all gone and our family history is becoming a faded memory.  My father was the last of his family to die.  Before he died, he wrote down his memories and put them in a book for all the children and grandchildren to read.  He left a wonderful legacy for future generations to come.  They can all read about his life and the memories he had of his parents and family.

I’m very proud of my Dutch ancestry, but I was born into this heritage…I had no choice in the matter.  My children are Dutch descendants and they too had no choice.

There is another heritage available to us.  We can all be a part of the family of God.  John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”   This isn’t a heritage that you’re born into.  It doesn’t matter if your parents were Christians…it doesn’t matter if you are “religious”…it doesn’t matter if you are a “good” person doing “good” things.  Being a part of God’s family means that you have repented of your sin (and we’re all sinners!). You believe that Jesus Christ is God, Himself in human flesh.  You believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is the only way to restore our relationship to God and provide a way for us to escape the penalty of death and have eternal life.  If you want to be a part of God’s family….you have to ask Christ to be your Savior and Lord…you have to choose HIM!  And…let me tell you…it’s a wonderful choice and it’s the greatest heritage you could ever be a part of!

My hope and prayer for you?  That I will be able to say to you….welcome to the family!

Blessings, Linda

Tagged as: Christ, Dutch, family, god, heritage, Holland, immigrant, Kredit spiritual heritage, memories, Noordam, Redeemed, ships, steamers, tea