MY BIRTHDAYS

Facebook is amazing! People I haven't seen or heard from in years have taken the time to send me birthday greetings. What is even more amazing at my age, is that I remember every one of them with fondness, even smiling to myself as I read their messages. If only I could get them all to read my blog.

I was born during the Second World War in St. Louis, Missouri, to a military father and a stay at home mother. The fact that I was able to spend so much time with her is such a blessing to me because after only six years, my dad took me from her, and I did not see her again until I was in my twenties. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to visit her three times before she died in 1995. Ironically, I think that is about the same number of times I saw my dad after I joined the Navy on my seventeenth birthday.

I have been blessed to have grown up in the greatest country on Earth. I do not take for granted the fact that our nation has had the "hand of God" on it my whole life. We are so blessed! I really don't know how I made it as a teenager living in an uninsulated, unfinished attic without air conditioning, but obviously I did. Just the other day, I called the cable company to upgrade our cable. She asked how many TV's we had, and I am embarrassed to say that we have four. There are only two of us, and we have four TV's! I have been thinking about the billions in the world who barely have enough to eat, and are in constant fear of being killed, and I wonder why God has been so gracious to us. Our three daughters, eight grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and assorted in-laws all live in air conditioned homes and have enough to eat. Most of them have jobs, and all of them are relatively healthy. Even my wife of forty-eight years and I, though feeling the ware and tare of living into our sixties, are relatively healthy and have free medical care for those "little irritants" that arise from time to time. We are so blessed!

Even though today is recognized as my birthday on my driver's license, in actuality, I have two birthdays. I was born physically on this date in 1942, but I also was born (again) on January 31, 1971. There is an old saying that I like very much: a man born once, dies twice, but a man born twice dies only once! When a man trusts in Jesus Christ, he is born again spiritually (Jn. 3:3-8). As a result, he only dies a physical death. However, if he never trusted in Christ and he has had only a physical birth, he must therefore die twice; he will die physically, and he will also suffer a second death (Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8). I am so blessed to have been born in America, but that blessing is nothing compared to the blessing I have waiting when I spend eternity with the One Who paid the penalty for my sins! America is great, but the presence of almighty God is great beyond my comprehension. I thank God for both of my births; they are gifts from Him (Eph. 2:8-9).