Have you ever heard a song that totally speaks to your heart and feels like it was written just for you? This has happened several times to me (see here & here for a couple of those songs in my life). Sometimes it is a song that speaks to you for a season–when you are going through a crisis and need encouragement or when something amazing happens and you are full of joy. Other times these songs speak to your life in general and become life-songs.

I am blessed to be apart of a small accountability group of friends who discuss, encourage, pray, etc. about our issues with anger. A couple of weeks ago we were all discouraged because even though we have been working on our anger for about a year (or more) we are not seeing much progress. There are times when all of us seem to fail miserably in this area. We were also talking about our families. Each of us have a parent (or two) who had an anger problem while we were growing up. Our parents were our example. What we experienced growing up became our “normal” and that is what we mimic as adults. Most of us with anger problems will find that anger has been passed down several generations. Is that a good excuse for continuing in our anger? NO! Absolutely not! Nevertheless, after witnessing and forming bad habits for years and years, we now have to unlearn those habits and replace them with good ones (this concept could apply to other types of addiction and/or bad habits as well). Many times those of us who had some sort of dysfunction in our families feel like we are doomed to carry on that dysfunction. This, of course, is not true! In Christ we have been made new!

“…If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

We can be the one who stops the dysfunction in order to create a new legacy for our children and grandchildren! Praise God!

So, how are you going to change your family tree?

I had never heard of Matthew West until I moved back to the USA where we have Christian radio. His new CD just came out and I got it after hearing the story behind the music on the radio. He wrote songs based on personal stories of some of his fans. The whole CD (The Story Of Your Life) is really good and I HIGHLY recommend it but this song really speaks to what my accountability friends and I have been struggling with lately. It speaks to me because of other family disfunction/history also.

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Family Tree

By: Matthew West

You didn’t ask for this
Nobody ever would
Caught in the middle of this dysfunction
It’s your sad reality
It’s your messed up family tree
And all your left with all these questions

Are you gonna be like your father was and his father was?
Do you have to carry what they’ve handed down?

No, this is not your legacy
This is not your destiny
Yesterday does not define you
No, this is not your legacy
This is not your meant to be
I can break the chains that bind you

I have a dream for you
It’s better than where you’ve been
It’s bigger than your imagination
You’re gonna find real love
And you’re gonna hold your kids
You’ll change the course of generations

No, this is not your legacy
This is not your destiny
Yesterday does not define you
No, this is not your legacy
This is not your meant to be
I can break the chains that bind you

Cause you’re my child
You’re my chosen
You are loved
You are loved

And I will restore
All that was broken
You are loved
You are loved

And just like the seasons change
Winter into spring
You’re brining new life to your family tree now
Yes you are
You are

No, this will be your legacy
This will be your destiny
Yesterday did not define you
No, this will be your legacy
This will be your meant to be
I can break the chains that bind you

And just like the seasons change
Winter into spring
You’re brining new life to your family tree now

Order at Christian Book Distributors through the following link!

I get credit for all purchases made through my CBD links!

The Story of Your Life CD

By Matthew West / Sparrow Records

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I would love to hear your thoughts and stories if you have ever dealt with anger in your life!

Please feel free to comment on my posts and/or e-mail me at: hearttreasurescontact@yahoo.com

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