Neighbor Talk

Recently I had a chat with my neighbor. I thought since he’s a handyman maybe he had a drill bit I could borrow instead of buying one. Not so lucky. (The bit I needed cost me $20.) When I knocked on his door, we talked about our summers, our vacations, the neighborhood, and life. He told me what he’s been up to lately. He’s researching his family tree online–his new hobby since he retired. As we spoke, he told me about his ancestors coming to America a few centuries ago. He mentioned his relatives and how some of them were killed or died. The best word to describe him would be: passionate. Even his wife asked him to stop his research in the evenings so she could spend time with him. His comment to me, “I spent 400 hours last month on genealogy.com. Can you believe that? 400 hours.”

This conversation happened about two weeks ago and I’m still thinking. And if you know me, you know where I’m going. My neighbor is fascinated about his heritage. Enough so that he is willing to invest hundreds of hours per month researching and recording it all for the next generation.

As a Christian, I have a family tree. A heritage and it’s all recorded in one book for me to glean from. How many hours do I spend learning about those who’ve gone before me? Am I passionate like my neighbor? Do I enjoy talking about the interesting life stories and discoveries I find?

One last thing he said to me, “I told my kids when I die, they better not throw it all away.” Hmm. There’s another topic in itself.

Your thoughts?