Day 96 - My Heritage

The last time my older sister and I took a vacation together, we visited a Menominee Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin.  We were surprised to make connections there that in all probability our new friends are likely distant relatives.  We were very touched by their warmth, and respect and we felt at home within their circle. 

It was a particularly good experience because there were many incidents and relatives in our young lives that we would like to forget. We spent a large portion of our teen years separating ourselves from known family while struggling with an inner pull that there was somehow more to our family 'out there'.

When I was 19 I discovered Etzarkhah Va'Beten - God Who Formed Us In The Womb.   The words of Psalm 139 opened up a whole new world for my sisters and I - "For you fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I thnk you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders -- I know this very well.  My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed."

That, I discovered, was my first heritage.  Knowing that my paternal grandmother was full-blooded Native American confirmed a love and longing that I'd felt before I knew.  Similarly, when I began to understand who Jesus was and that He'd been with me before birth, confirmation of fulfillment flooded my inmost being.  Deeper than 'falling in love'.... warmer than 'coming home' after a long absence, and more completing than any commencement I've experienced, was knowing that Etzarkhah Va'Beten - God who formed me in the womb - was the same God who paid the ultimate price to bring me back to himself.

That's some amazing heritage.


Breakfast:  Egg, ham and green onion, cooked in lemon juice and safflower oil. Side of spinach with lemon zest and half an Asian pear.  Seasoning is Lemon Herb.

Dinner:  A delightful meat market on Highway 50, just outside of Lake Geneva has many unique flavors of bratwurst.  This was Cranberry-Portebello Mushroom.  Served with sauerkraut topped with Wild Thyme Cranberry-Fig sauce.  Just the right touch of coolness and sweetness to offset the little bit of zing in the bratwurst.    Side dish is greek yogurt and pumpkin butter.  Delish.  I will do that combination again.