Amazing Grace

  I'm always excited to see a chance to review a biography for Evangelical Press, it's a chance for us to incorporate learning about heroes of the faith into our school.  So, when the Bitesize Biography of John Newton by John Crotts came across the wire, I dove at the chance, not just because of our fondness for biographies, but also because it fit perfectly with our history lessons!  We had just finished up the Matchlock Gun which is set in the French and Indian War when John's biography arrived.  Couldn't have been more perfectly timed since John was born in 1725 just prior to our area of study!

John Newton in later years

  I had never taken the time to read about John Newton before this.  I have sung his song Amazing Grace countless times over the years as a lullaby to our kiddos though:)  I liked the set up of this book.  It began with a timeline & a good brief intro to how God protected and guided John's life until and after his conversion. Boy did he need protection in his early years!  His godly mother died when he was young and his emotionally distant seafaring father left him to his own devices and trying to find his place in the world without a guide, which led to a life pretty much without morals.  Pressed into naval service, he eventually ended up in the slave trade and almost a slave (of sorts) himself.
  The chapters on his life as a slave ship captain and the effect it had on his life were of particular interest to me.  Just last week I had a hit on my Ancestry.com DNA results.  One of the people it connected me to was 65% West African & 35% British Isles (which is the ancestry we shared).  I contacted the person and found a surname we shared - Utterback.  Wow!  I had known that there were a few branches of my family that were slave owners. I had seen even wills that transferred ownership of slaves, some of light skinned, gray eyed slaves through the generations.  But to find an actual person that I was related to as a result of those things that had just been on paper before made it all so real.  What a horrible period in our history when one race considered another so inferior that they treated them so badly.  The consolation that I find especially in my Utterbacks is that they gave up slavery at least in my branch sooner than some. 
  One of the cool things I liked about this book is that Mr. Crotts uses snipits from the song Amazing Grace throughout the book to tie it all together.  I need to go back through and make sure I caught them all:)  Crotts also preps you to look for evidences of how God protected John or guided him through his years a defiance towards Him. 

  The book had an excellent section for other suggested readings, although I wished he would have included a bibliography to cite his sources for this book.  Crotts also mentioned the movie Amazing Grace (2006).  So I had to check it out.  Luckily our little library had it!  It was an excellent movie focusing on William Wilberforce and his efforts to end the slave trade.  Wilberforce became friends with Newton, and Newton helped him try to persuade people to end slavery and also was a spiritual mentor to Wilberforce.  It wasn't until almost 20 years after Newton's death and right at Wilberforce's death that the slave trade was abolished in Britain. What people had been blind to, they could now see.
  Another of the things I enjoyed in this book was that the author took a few John Newton's hymns, most notably Amazing Grace, and dissected them.  It's been on my mind lately how a lot of contemporary Christian music is just "fluff".  These old hymns, and not just Newton's, had substance.  The book put it best, "A hymn is more than a statement of truth.  It stretches the tools of language to express the truth with appropriate passion.  Instead of simply offering the facts about God, a text of Scripture, or Christian experience, hymns express those realities through rhythmic language, often using rhyme, symbols & graphic imagery to help the singers feel the facts.  When musical melodies accompany these verbal expressions, the emotional elements intensify".
  Of course I can't think of the song Amazing Grace without my dear Uncle Jim's version of the song coming to mind, "Amazing Grace that was her name, oh where's my Gracie gone?".  Which brings me to another aspect of the book, John's love life.  He met this truly amazing girl, Polly, who's family cared for his mother in her illness prior to her death.  He loved her with a love that he claimed "bordered on idolatry".  She waited for him during the years he was away at sea.  She made a home for him that showed hospitality to all who entered - what an example! Something to strive for!
   The book as well as Newton's life shows that what came before doesn't define us, it guides us.  We learn from our mistakes and hopefully use it for God's glory.
   Thank you to Evangelical Press for sending me a copy of this book to review! :)

It's in my blood

  A little over a year ago, Ancestry.com had this great deal for members - they wanted people to try out their DNA matching for free (limited availability).  My mom and I had been talking about trying this for a while, so we jumped at the chance!  Normally the test ranges from about $130 - $200 depending on membership/special offers.  I submitted my DNA (filling a vile with saliva) so we could do both my folks' DNA at once.  I must say it has been a pretty interesting experience.  At first since it was a new program through Ancestry, I didn't get a lot of matches.  However, it did tell me what my ethnic background was, which in and of itself was cool!

I was not surprised by the British Isles percentage.  I was at the Scandinavian one though until I realized that some of my blond haired, blue eyed German ancestors were probably of Viking descent :)  The "uncertain" intrigues me!  They clarified that saying the more data they gathered might eventually clarify this category.
  When you do eventually get matches to your tree, they are classified into what kind of "cousins" they might be, the majority falling into the distant cousins, but actually I have over 30 right now that fall into the 4th-6th cousin range. It will show you this little graph to let you know which ethnicity you share:

Best case scenario you can look at their tree and see what names you might share as well as the locations:

Now, I have not had much luck with looking at the trees.  Sometimes I might recognize the surname, but who's to tell if that's the one you actually share more immediately?  I personally prefer the map.  It shows tear drops for your tree, the "cousin's" tree as well as one for areas you both have an ancestor from.  If you click on the shared tear drop it will show you the individuals from both trees from that area - that is the most helpful!
  Just this week I had 2 hits that were cousins I totally recognized.  One was a gal I had been in contact with years before.  Her tree (as well as mine) is private, but I recognized her name and knew her connection - her ancestor and my ggg-grandma were siblings.  Yay!  Here's pictures of them:

Joshua Jordan

Louisa Jordan Camp

  Also, Ancestry sent me a hit where a 4th-6th cousin had a match to a name in his tree!  Awesome!  When it does that, it shows you a little graph on how you are related to that person.  So, it didn't hold any groundbreaking information on either of them, but it made me rest assured that this stuff really works! I can't wait to see what more it kicks up:)