The spirit of Elijah

I've been thinking a lot about family history lately and then yesterday our bishop talked to us about becoming familiar with familysearch.org and the importance of recording our family story. Instead of emphasizing temple work for the dead he focused on how family stories and photographs passed down from generation to generation root us to something bigger than ourselves and give us a foundation on which we can define who we are. There was an emphasis on the importance of sharing these stories and photos with our children, because it gives them a sense of belonging and identity. It gives purpose to life and gives strength in uncertainty.

It was for this reason that I picked up my first camera- a dented old 35mm SLR camera belonging to my grandfather. I needed to find the answer to that age old question: Who am I? Once I was a young eager girl, yesterday I was a newlywed, today I am a mother. With every moment and every experience I am changing- the world is changing, but because of the foundation I have of family and personal histories I know who I am, I know what is expected of me and I know where I need to go.

Photographs have always been an important part of my life. I love pulling out the family scrapbooks and looking through the pages. I am often amazed at how regularly there is something new I get out of them. The other day I was looking at the above photo of my grandmother with her first baby and it suddenly had a new meaning for me. I felt a fresh kinship with her. She was no longer the old woman I know. Instantly, she became a kindred spirit, young and filled with potential and even though she can't remember how she felt or what she thought then, I know, because today I am living it.
She is in me and I am in her.

When I was pregnant with my son I really struggled with deciding on a name. My brain likes to make things complicated. This baby had to have a name that meant something to me. After reading parts of my great, great, great grandfather Elijah L. journal- who traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah from Cambridge, England with the pioneers- we thought we would name him Elijah. I still was hesitant, but during the October 2012 conference I heard the scripture in Malachi chapter 4 quoted, "I will send you Elijah...and he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers." Instantly, I knew he would be called Elijah.

The one thing I wanted for as long as I could remember was a close and loving family. While I was pregnant my parents were in the middle of a divorce. My mother had pushed aside her family and replaced it with that of her boyfriend and his young children. My father was taking care of his very ill mother. It was a time where I felt very alone and afraid. Who was going to help me through this transition into motherhood? As I sought the Lord through prayer I found comfort in the sealing power of Elijah the prophet and in the desire that my son- the first grandchild on both sides- would bring the generations together. He is named Elijah, because he is both the hope of his mother and her future.

I feel so grateful to be born into a family rich with history. My husband calls me 'the historian,' because I am compelled to collect and record family stories. Perhaps, this is a talent I did not before recognize? I too am grateful for the knowledge I have that life does not end with death and that one day we will be reunited with our families. Having such a perspective I hope that I can better foster current relationships and be a better mother, a better wife,  a better daughter and sister, etc.