Chicken-stealin’ Willie

by Dan Bouchelle

On our annual Christmas trek across America to visit kin, my wife and I spent the trip talking about her grandfather who had recently passed away.

Amy’s “Papaw” was a Smith. But so many Smiths live in Lincoln County, Mississippi, that just wearing that moniker doesn’t say much about your relations. Amy asked her Papaw once if a certain Smith girl was related to them. “Oh, no,” he replied, “she’s a Chicken-stealin’ Willie Smith. Around here,” he explained, “you’ve got your Four Penny Smiths (pronounced Foe Penny), and your Two Penny Smiths, and your Chicken-stealin’ Willie Smiths. We’re Four Penny Smiths and she is a Chicken-stealin’ Willie Smith. Four Penny Smiths are small people, but those Chicken-stealin’ Willie Smiths are tall folks.”

After a good laugh, we began to wonder how these clans got their names. We made no progress on the various Penny Smiths, but the third set of Smiths obviously all descended from a fellow named Willie who was known to carry home birds that didn’t belong to him. No telling how far back this poultry pilfering took place, but it has left a legacy for that family that still colors their identity.

The things we do affect our children’s lives for generations. Our culture believes in individualism, but it is an illusion. We are the products of families. We have a heritage, and we leave a legacy. The Scriptures recognize this when God says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5b-6).

This does not mean that God carries a grudge against sinners that he vents on their offspring. It does mean that our lives have huge implications for our children. One baby is born to a righteous family and lives in great blessing all her life. Another baby is born to a crack addict and suffers untold hardship all her life. A world built around families cannot work any other way.

We cannot control our heritage, but we can determine much of our legacy. The effect of the curse lasts only a few generations, but God promises to bless a thousand generations of the faithful. If you have a good heritage, pass it on. If you have a bad heritage, let your generation be the one that begins moving toward blessing.   

Amy has been blessed by a godly grandfather who passed on a legacy of fidelity and blessing. Your children and grandchildren can be, too.