My son, Slone, is a fifth generation Cluck. Cluck is the ironic surname of my Texas cattle ranching family. Slone and his wife were with us for thanksgiving this year. I asked him to pray over the meal. In the prayer, he asked, "...and Father God, show us how to proc..." he paused for a moment and then continued, "Just show us how to move forward." This phrase, "move forward" echoed in my spirit for days. It was as if those two words were amplified through his prayer.
I published a couple of blogs last week about both my great grandfather, Homer Cluck, and my grandfather, Pike Cluck and how they had to look adversity in the eye and choose to do just that - move forward. That is simply all you can do in the face of adversity.
I spent a little time this weekend with a fifth generation cousin, Cavin Cluck. He's in the seventh grade and I wanted to hear his take on our current situation. I was pleasantly surprised that he had taken note of the fact that Kanye West, after having a seemingly authentic conversion experience, began buying up farm land in the "fly over states." The fact that this seventh grader understood the significance of that impressed me. "A true Cluck." I thought to myself.
Stan and I spent some time on the phone Sunday morning with another fifth generation cousin, Colby, who is just recovering from a truly terrible bout with Covid. He was sharing with us that he had become enamoured with the story of our great/great-great grandparents, Homer and Pearl, ever since he watched the Songumentary. He said, "I have that in me, Jill - that tenacity Homer had. I do! And Covid is our modern day dust bowl!"
"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." C.S. Lewis
So here we are family. In "listening to the fifth," I hear a resounding harmony, living on generation to generation, and it's a sweet, sweet sound!
...and so, back to Slone's prayer, "Lord, just show us how to move forward." ♡♤◇♧
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