Thanks for tuning in, it's an honor to be with you.

As we study God's Word together, may our time uplift and encourage you.

If you could use some hope, I pray you find it here today.

In this episode, we're talking about family.

Perhaps you've known your share of family drama, Jacob's family new drama,

and yet they might be the most influential family in history,

the 12 tribes of Israel.

And their story reminds us God works even through the most crooked family tree.

At the ripe young age of 82, my oldest sister hosted a family reunion.

Not wanting to leave anyone out, she issued and all points bulletin to

Locado's worldwide. Everyone was invited to journey to Fort Smith, Arkansas,

where she lives, and spend a weekend hanging out under her roof.

By the time Deanlin and I arrived last June, the place was already a buzz with activity.

Kif, kin, kids, and cousins, in loss, outlaws, and a few fugitives of the law.

There were some 50 or 60 of us enough to require name tags.

I saw a few faces I'd never seen.

I saw quite a few I'd not seen in a long while.

A couple were toothless and in diapers, but old age will do that to you.

My sister had gone through the tedious task of putting together a family tree, a genealogy,

and hanging it on her mantle. It stretched some six feet wide.

It covered a dozen decades and four generations.

It began with the birth of my dad's dad, 1880, and continued right up into the most recent

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