Generationally Speaking

Dearest Psalm,

I think it is vitally important that you know "from whence you come," at least from a generational perspective. This information may not seem very important to you now, but I have a feeling that it will be very important in days to come.

Your family--on both my side and your daddy's side--is FULL of Christians. More than that, both sides of your family are dominated by ministers. Again, this may mean little to you now, and perhaps for a decade or two, but I can promise you that one day it will all make sense.

God has a way of calling families. I can't say that I understand it all, how he works in generations of people/families, but I have seen it, known it to be true, so I expect it to be something that impacts you greatly in the years to come.

Here's what I know to be true about my side of the family: My great-grandfather was a Baptist minister who was filled with the Holy Spirit and became Pentecostal. The story that has been handed down about him is that he was out in a field, under a tree, praying to the Lord, and he was filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1-2+ for more information). This happened in the early 20th Century. He was a minister of the Gospel for his whole life, as far as I know. His daughter, Robbie Jean Williams, my grandmother, your great-grandmother ("Gran Gran"), married John Carl Wainwright ("Pop Pop"), a Navy man who later became a police officer and then a Pentecostal preacher (for nearly 50 years) in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN). He and Gran pastored in Dinuba, CA, Sapulpa, OK, and Muldrow, OK, before they retired for health reasons. My mother, your grandmother, took over for Poppa when he retired, becoming the senior pastor of the Muldrow Church of God (OK). In 2007, right before your Daddy and I got married, we started ministering together as youth pastors of Poteau First Assembly of God. In 2012, we started the credentialing process in the Assemblies of God. This year, God willing, we will have our certificates.

In addition to what I've said, I thought I would add this: My mother is a chaplain at Sparks Hospital in Ft. Smith, AR. She has been called to missions work since she was a young girl. I, too, am called to missions, though the extent of that calling is yet to be known. Your Aunt Amanda (my youngest sister) is the pastor's wife at Maysville First Baptist Church (OK). I have two cousins, Brittany and Chris, who have gone on several missions trips and are in a Christian band in California. Their father is a Men's Minister at their church. ALL of my family, my aunts and uncles, attend church and work in the church in some capacity. They also lead by example on their jobs. God has given us all great favor.

Although my father's side of the family is difficult to know--my father's mom was adopted and we did not know much about her family--my grandmother, Norma, considered herself to be a minister of the Word and did evangelical outreaches from time to time. From what I have heard, she was saved in a Kathryn Kuhlman revival in the Los Angeles area. She attended the Assemblies of God as long as I knew her and had a strong faith and JOY in God until the day she passed away.

My father's father, Rex Allen Harrod, was not a spiritual man, as far as we knew. We do not know if he knew the Lord before he took his own life--due to his terminal cancer. My dad's brother discovered, when he investigated the Harrod family tree, that my grandfather was Jewish--they came from England and were tailors.

Your father's family is FULL of ministers for generations. When one of his family members did a family tree search, they discovered that there have been MANY generations of pastors and ministers in their family. The Yandells consider themselves to be Baptist--your daddy grew up Free Will Baptist. And although your daddy has discovered that there are several Assemblies of God ministers in his family, the family ministers have been predominantly Baptist and Free Will Baptist.

Needless to say, sweetheart, you are covered by GENERATIONS OF PRAYERS and PROMISES. See, Christians tend to pray over their families, and for their families "afar off," and the Bible tells us that God hears our prayers and that those prayers can last long after we breathe our last breaths.

This night, I pray over you, dear Psalm. I pray that you know the Lord for yourself, ask Him into your heart at an early age, and commit your path to Him for Him to direct as soon as possible. I pray over you right now, dear one, for your future, for your husband, for the family you will have together. I pray that you will make wise choices and ask the Lord what to do and what to be before you journey off on your own. I pray that you do not do anything until you KNOW that God has ordained it. I pray over your children, and their children, and I pray that you never stop praying, that you never stop chasing after OUR GREAT GOD who loves us and protects us and spares us from ourselves and others. He has a GREAT PLAN FOR YOU, darling. And no matter what happens to me, I have entrusted you to Him. And I KNOW He will never leave you or forsake you. I love you, Mommy.