Happy Birthday, Mama!

Birthdays are special. As a child, we always celebrated birthdays with a cake and a present. Today, October 3, is my mother’s birthday. She’s been gone now nearly fifteen years, but we were blessed to have her in our lives for 93 years.

Born, Rose Ann Richert, in the family home on a farm outside the tiny town of Chinook, Montana.
Her parents were homesteaders and until she was seventeen, the family lived in Montana. Tragedy struck when my grandmother, Sarah, died suddenly of a stroke at age 42. Soon afterwards, the Richert family moved to Nebraska, where my grandpa married a widow.

It was there in a farming community in Nebraska, that my parents met and married on her twentieth birthday, October 3, 1937.

Do you ever wonder about how you came to be? I think about the terrible loss the Richert family had when their mother died so young, yet I wouldn’t be me if that loss hadn’t taken place and the family had moved to Nebraska. Sometimes I try to imagine who or what I’d be if my mother stayed in Montana and married someone else.

I like the passage in Romans 8:28 where it tells us, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…

This I know. God knew. In various places, the Bible tells us how God knew us before we were born, Before I formed you, I knew you, (Jeremiah 1:5) or You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book (Psalm 139:16), or This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb (Isaiah 44:24).

Wow! Do you ever think about that? God knew you before you were born! He knew you would exist and how long you would live.

I’m so grateful to God that I was born into the family I am in. I love my brother and sisters so much, I can’t imagine life without them and the memories of them growing up.

Sometimes, God causes things to happen to us that seem tragic at the time, yet He worked them out for good as the passage in Romans tells us. There are numerous times where I didn’t understand why certain things happened, yet in the end, they worked out for my good.

One of the best “bad” things that happened to me was when my daughter was born and nearly died. God got my attention when I realized I’d strayed very far from Him. The fear of losing my daughter caused me to return to Him. I realized I needed God–Jesus–all of the time. Not just on Sundays in church or when an emergency will happen, or illness may strike, but all of the time. I’ve never looked back since that time more than fifty years ago now.

What about you? Are you in a “bad” situation now? Do you wonder why certain things are happening to you? Is there a diagnosis that is very serious? Do you have a loved one with whom you are estranged? A spouse who has an illness? A child who is sick? I suggest you go to the One who “knows all things.” He knows all about you and wants you to be close to Him all of the time. I can tell you that when I returned to following Jesus all of the time, it was the best decision I ever made.

William Cowper, an English poet, wrote this:

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform,

He plants His footsteps on the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Reach out to the One who “rides upon the storm.” He’s there, waiting for you.

William Cowper was a prolific hymn writer as well as other poetry. Today I discovered he wrote verse 5 of the often sung, “Amazing Grace.” Here is verse 5: