Happy Birthday, Mary!

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9 ESV).

The reading I have chosen today may seem a bit odd. After all, it’s Mary’s birthday and this passage is not a direct reference to celebration or observance of such a special day. However, in light of the events of this year in our family, it seemed appropriate. Before I get to any of that, I do want to say a public Happy Birthday to my wife, Mary. Today we celebrate the 29th anniversary of her 39th birthday (you do the math, I’m not publicly writing that – I may be ugly, but I’m not stupid). Recently when Mary and I visited with Aaron, our youngest son, we went to brunch at a wonderful little French restaurant in Washington, D.C. It happened to also be Mother’s Day, so the celebration was a double pleasure. Of course, Kyle and David called to wish her “Happy Mother’s Day”; however, we went to see Aaron before his summer teaching responsibilities took him abroad. It was a wonderful trip in many ways. We hadn’t been able to get away much over the past few months as we have been dealing with other issues which were quite a surprise to both of us. In fact, the past two years have been like that. These months have been full of surprises and adjustments. Two things came to my mind as I turned my attention to this birthday devotional. First, none of these things were a surprise to God. His thoughts are simply not my thoughts. His perspective is vastly greater and different than mine. I pictured our retirement a bit different than it has evolved. I certainly didn’t think we would be spending our time with weekly visits to various doctors diagnosing and treating an unexpected and challenging illness. He did; and, he purposed our good from it (cf. Romans 8:28). It has already brought a “reset” to my mind. Things I took for granted no longer are on the “back-burner.” They are now front and center. Second, it also brought into clear certainty how temporary this world is. God has been preparing us through this journey for our final home. Just as we moved into our new Texas home a few months ago, we are moving toward our final home each day. We don’t know that schedule, but it gets closer with each passing moment. That is truly a cause for celebration! I’m so glad to celebrate Mary’s birthday today; but, more so, I celebrate the coming of eternity with her. Nothing can take that away (cf. Romans 8:31-36). I hope you can celebrate like that too!