“O”rigin

My dad, Sterling, and my nephew Matt.

A person’s “origin” can mean several things. It can be a place/location where I was born (Denver, Colo.), it can be a culture from where my ancestors originated or it can be my very beginning, which I consider to be in God’s image/likeness.

My brother, sister-in-law and I took a trip to Pennsylvania last year, to meet some first cousins that we’d never met before. My dad was from Allentown and we discovered cousins on my dad’s sister’s side of the family. It was so much fun to see the physical similarities and commonalities, even though we’d never met each other before.

During this visit I discovered that we were Scotch-Irish, along with our German/Pennsylvania Dutch heritage (which we’d known). My grandmother’s side of the family were English and Swedish, so I have those roots in my genes as well.

I was born and raised in Denver. And, until 10 years ago, when I moved to Indiana, I had lived and thrived in Denver. When I first moved, people would ask me where I was from and I’d say, “I’m originally from Denver but I moved here six months ago.” Now I tell people I’m from Indiana.

If I think about the author and creator of life, I think of God. I am made in His likeness and being, so even though I have my mother and father’s genes, God breathed life into me. At least that’s what I believe.

So, origin can mean a variety of things, which I guess is still the spice of life!