#5 Domestic Innovations
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| Zaporah cooked three meals for about thirty people every day, plus laundry, sewing, and child-care responsibilities: no electric appliances; no supermarkets; no Pampers. In this photo, she is about my current age. |
#4 Modern Dentistry
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| I'm so very grateful for the innovations in modern dentistry that make it possible for us to have chompers far longer than our ancestors. It's evident that Zaporah has already lost most or all of her teeth. She's not quite 50. |
#3 Cosmetics
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| This detail is from a formal group photo of the family. Oh, my word y'all! This is Zaporah dolled up! I know I speak for my husband too when I shout my unbridled gratitude for hair color, sunscreen, and mascara. |
#2 Steel Belted Bras
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| Whoever invented the underwire bra should be awarded a Nobel Prize, or something. I'm sorry, but it just had to be said. Call me shallow if you like, but you know you were thinking the same thing. I know you were. |
#1 Family
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| Think about everything our ancestors had to survive, (plagues, wars, poverty, deprivation) just so that we could have our brief time under the sun. I've been a little hard on old Zaporah, but the truth is that I am in awe. I can't imagine how she managed everything her world threw at her. I thank God for the legacy of faith she somehow managed to leave behind. |
"Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe...
...and the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful."
We do have it so easy compared to those who went before us. JC Ryle once told his preacher boys to thank God for the time that they were born, they could have been born in a time more primative and with greater hardships.
ReplyDeletewe take so much for granted - bra had to be in there. love old family history and photographs. glad we have a 5 this week!
ReplyDeleteWe're so spoiled that I wonder how many of us could actually survive what Zaporah's generation lived through. Enjoyed the old photo and your comments!
ReplyDeleteWhat a hard life! I think of my great-grandparents, who emigrated from Sweden and lived just around the block from where I live now. (Their house is still standing.) And they raised NINE kids in a TINY house in a very, very wet climate. Without going stark raving mad.
ReplyDeleteI'm thanking the Lord for many of the same things you just mentioned :D
@ Herding Grasshoppers: It's astonishing how much hardship our ancestors took in stride. I'll bet the children were well trained and hard working too!
ReplyDelete@ Gorges: I'm thankful to be more spoiled than Zaporah. :-)
@ Bar & Gregg: So true!