One of the more fascinating things I have ever done was the testing of my DNA. I had heard about the National Geographic's Genographic project on the Today Show.

The thought of finding out where my family comes from fascinates me more than anything you can imagine outside of knowing God more fully. I even talked my husband and my dad into getting themselves tested. Dads are important for women as we only carry the maternal MtDNA.

Knowing that God created mankind makes me not pay that close of an attention to where scientists say the origin of mankind was, or even more so when. I am fascinated by the journey my ancestors completed, and I can easily Biblically adjust the timelines and locations. The Bible suggests that the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived was somewhere near the Euphrates River (modern-day Iraq). The Bible also only records about 6,000 years of human history, but once again, the general hope was to understand how my family line migrated.

So after all the intro, here is my Mom's ancestral journey - from this side I get Haplogroup K.
Guess my Scandinavian first name is justified!
Somebody in the family line took a left turn to Germania a long time ago.


My Dad's side of the family tree was much more fascinating - his family line ends in the Mediterranean!! This is really funny since he is blue-eyed, and I would have never suspected.
I think Napoleon's soldiers left their mark in my family as they marched through Germany.
Dad is Haplogroup J2e1.


What I personally like the best is that both of the family lines crossed what is Israel today. Boy, that may explain my great love for the land of Israel and its people.

I always thought we might have Jewish ancestors on my Mom's side as her mother's maiden name is Nussbaum. I really could not prove with the genetics tests that we have Jewish ancestors. In my dad's remote genetic relationships there are some Ashkenazi Jews, but they are too far removed to be of significance. So it looks like that's not the case after all.

However, that doesn't stop me from feeling an immense affinity to Jews and the land of Israel.

Isaiah 62:1 talks about this:
"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch."

In verses 6 and 7 of the same chapter, I have found what I believe to be my life's calling:
"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."

I believe God has asked me to be such a watchman for Israel - I know that as clearly as I know the sun will go down tonight and come up tomorrow morning.

So I will keep on doing what Psalm 122:6-7 exhorts all of us to do:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."
May it be so again soon. Come, Lord Jesus (Yeshua for my Jewish friends)!
posted by Elke at 6:04 PM