This is my photo of the home and heritage garden Dr. John and Marguerite McLoughlin built when they established my home town, Fort Vancouver, Washington in 1825.
Last Friday evening, I enjoyed the greatest author highlight of my writing life so far. The American Christian Fiction Writers Book Club chose my historic novel, Wilderness Wife, as their November read. Since Thanksgiving came late this year, we finished the week’s discussion with a Zoom call last Friday evening. That allowed our participants, many who are authors, to see each other. We usually shoot emails and comments back and forth electronically but seeing each other’s faces on our computer screen helped us link up the correct names.
Last month a Michigan reader searching Amazon for books on strong, courageous Native women hit an algorithm that brought her to my Wilderness Wife book. Its real-life heroine, Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin, was a courageous half Swiss and half Cree single mom whose life changed North American history. That Michigan reader bought my book, read it, and notified me that she and her three adult children are 4th and 5th generation direct descendants of Marguerite.
You should have seen my face when I got that email. While researching and writing my book, I enjoyed their ancestor so much, I thought of her as a personal friend. In the past six weeks, through many emails from her living family, I find many of Marguerite’s finest qualities alive and well in these great folks living in northern Michigan. They know parts of her history that I don’t. I’ve filled in blanks for them. One descendant slightly resembles this photo of a young Marguerite next to her husband.
Their family joined us on last Friday’s Zoom meeting, one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had since I began writing in the third grade. They asked me to write the sequel to Wilderness Wife. I’m strongly considering it. It thrills me to see their ancestor’s God-given talents alive and well in them. It creates a strong sense of living history when generational blessings grow and expand in descendants to shape and change today’s world.
During family get-togethers near Christmas, look around. Celebrate the strengths you see in others that are growing and being passed on. Look in the mirror. Recognize and nurture the best qualities in yourself. Today’s world and future generations need them to root more deeply and produce an ever-increasing harvest.
Name the generational blessing you’re most aware of in your family.
Thank God for it
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