Wonderful story there! I am a direct descendent of those you mention also (only just found out) via the Jezard line marrying the Finch line, then the Finch line marrying the Cleaver’s who all come from the Chislet/Reculver/Herne areas. I dont have this but on my tree yet but have down from Ann Jezard who married Edward Finch.

Would love to know any further information you have. My website is listed above and the password is whitecliffs

Many thanks – look forward to hearing from you

Terry

(Most readers are probably familiar with Books’s “Flooding the Earth” work, but if you aren’t, do yourself a favor: Click on his link — his name at the bottom of his comment — and explore his blog.)

How often does the Lord (through His Spirit) try to give us directions of where to go (or what to do) in order to accomplish His purposes, but we either A) aren’t listening, B) aren’t making efforts to accomplish His purposes, or C) dismiss the guidance thinking “Oh, that must be my imagination. The Lord would never tell me something like that.”

“… and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide,…” D&C 45:57.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6.

“And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. ” Isaiah 42:16.

I think that in regards to us mortals, the 3 major purposes of the Lord are the 3 major purposes of the church: redeem the dead (genealogy/temple work), perfect the saints (families, home/visiting teaching, youth programs), proclaim the gospel (missionary work).

Anne illustrated an important sequence of keys to unlocking the revelation/inspiration faucet: a) prepare first, then b) go out and do, and be engaged in the purpose that the Lord wants to accomplish, c) believe in revelation/guidance, d) listen for the revelation/guidance, e) then act on it.

Ardis, I haven’t heard of the books to which you refer- must look them out.

I once stayed as a guest of a Scandinavian family who have pioneer ancestors going back to the early days of the Church. My base for my visit was the room in which the grandchildren usually stayed, and on one wall was painted the most wonderful tree, with roots and branches and portraits of family members attached to the appropriate root or branch. Fascinating to ponder as I drifted off to the land of Nod!

My favorite story is about the family of Maria Streeper and her husband John Culp. I was searching the records of St Peter’s Lutheran Church in Barren Hill, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania for some of my Streeper relatives when I found John and Maria’s family. For some reason, this family on a collateral line spoke to me. Later that afternoon I was looking in a census record (this was in the days before digital census records) again for my ancesters, and found the family of John and Maria. The census showed several more children in the family than the church record had shown. I got all emotional and had to wipe away some tears. About fifteen minutes later I leaned over to my sister Leslie to tell her what had happened to me, and started choking up again. The same thing happened to me when I got home and told my husband.

A few years later, Leslie and I had been doing research around Philadelphia and Montgomery County towns where our ancestors came from. The last morning, we left Philadelphia to drive to Pittsburg where her daughter lived, hoping to have some time to play with the grandkids that night. I told Leslie that we had to stop at St Peter’s church at Barren Hill so that I could find John and Maria’s graves. Maria’s great grandfather, brother to my 5th great grandfather, had donated the land for the cemetery and church, and most of the people in the huge cemetery were Streeper related people.

We pulled up to the parking lot across the street from the church. It was Sunday morning and there was singing coming from the old church. There were gravestones everywhere from each side of the church, going around the back and down a hill. As much as Leslie enjoyed the hunt of research, she wanted to go play with her grandkids, so she was reluctant to wander all over the cemetery. I dug in my feet and told her I wasn’t leaving until I had located the graves of John and Maria. I decided to start on the left side of the church, then wend my way around the back, down the hill, then up on the right side. I crossed the street from the parking lot, stepped over the curb, and the first two gravestones next to the curb were John Culp and Maria Streeper.

Since then I have wondered why it was so important for me to research this family, but I still have a real personal connection to them.