Love and perseverance transcend generations

Spend time reading to your children. Show them love and encouragement. Most of all, persevere through adversity even if it takes three jobs to support your family. The lessons will carry on for a hundred generations or more. The example of your family can influence many people to come. Read more in the Love is the ultimate hero editorial at The Princeton Packet.

Jacob Loses Two Loved Ones (Gen 35)

Bible Summary:

God tells Jacob to move south to Bethel and worship Him there. Jacob tells his family to discard their foreign gods before they leave. Even though Jacob’s two sons killed all the men of Shechem, the people near there are too frightened to pursue them.

Later, Jacob leaves Bethel and heads south to visit his father Isaac in Hebron. Jacob’s wife Rachel dies along the way while giving birth to Benjamin. She is buried beside the road in what later becomes Bethlehem. Isaac lives to 180 and is buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.

My Thoughts:

Perseverance: Jacob endures many hardships: 20-years of labor for his uncle, fear of his brother’s 400 man army, his daughter’s rape, and now the loss of his wife Rachel and father. Jacob perseveres through it all with help from God in response to his faith in Him. When times are tough, talk to God. He will help you through. He does love you.

Loss of a Loved One: The hardest thing in life is to lose a loved one, especially unexpectedly. All of a sudden, life moves in slow motion. You are numb and looking for answers. What could I have done? How could I have better spent my time with them? Slowly things become easier as you carry on. In time, you start to feel again, you start to laugh again, and eventually you become you again. Hang in there until you are you again! God bless!