Today is my mother’s 90^th birthday. Four score and ten is a long life. Her father lived to be almost 100, and several of her sisters lived well into their nineties. I won’t get to see her today because I am attending the convention of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Milwaukee. However, we will be having a celebration for her with our family this Saturday.

In recent conversations, mom has asked me a question I heard many times in my ministry: “Why am I still here?”  She has also told me “It is no fun getting old.”  Her joints ache, her legs don’t work well, her hearing is bad, she gets shots in her eyes every couple of months, and she has a long list of other things you would expect for someone who has lived so long.

I don’t pretend to understand exactly how she feels, but I listen and try to remind her of God’s promises. She is a dearly loved child of God, bought with the blood of the Lamb, brought into the family through Baptism, confirmed in that faith and assured of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The life we live on this side of heaven will have trouble. That is the result of sin. But our lives can still be counted as blessings. God did not abandon us to suffer all our sin deserves. He rescued us from death and gives us life instead. This changes everything. Those who have put their faith in Jesus have the confidence that our loving God is in control and has already provided what we need most.

Psalm 31:14–15a But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands.

I hope and pray you have a happy birthday, mom. See you soon.