Do Not Call Unclean What God Has Called Clean

A Family Story

When I began researching our family history, I discovered things that some might prefer to hide.

Three of my grandparents were born out of wedlock. One of my grandmothers was born to a woman who ran a brothel. There were marks against their names before they ever had a chance to choose their own paths.

At first, I wondered how I should feel about that.

Then I realized something.

Without their endurance, I would not be here.

They lived in times when society condemned quickly and forgave slowly. They bore labels they did not choose. And yet they worked, they survived, they loved, and they carried life forward.

I am not ashamed of them.

I admire them.

They did not live easy lives. They lived human ones.

Scripture says, “Do not call unclean what I have made clean.”

Those words are not just theology to me. They are family history.

I want my children and grandchildren to understand something:

Never reduce a person to the hardest fact about their life.

Never condemn a bloodline because of scandal.

Never believe that God’s breath avoids complicated stories.

Grace runs through broken places.

We are here because people endured what others judged.

And if you ever wonder what binds us together across generations — it is not reputation. It is not perfection.

It is the breath of God.

And that breath is love.