A number of years ago at a marriage conference, the speaker said something I thought was profound. He said, “Do not despise small beginnings.” Too often we get bogged down with our past and think new attempts are not worth the effort. The Bible also says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Isa 43:18 Therefore with this new year let us forget the former things, embrace our new identity in Christ, and take a stab at something new, even if it is a small beginning.

Mom’s version: “In the summer of 1946, I was on my way to Okmulgee, OK to stay with a sister who was expecting a baby. I changed buses at Kansas City, in the middle of the night. As I stumbled half awake in the new bus, I saw 2 empty seats, across the aisle from each other. One was by an elderly gentleman, one was by a sailor. All day I had ridden by an elderly gentleman, who talked my ear off! I made a beeline for the sailor, figured he would sleep, he did until the morning then we visited. The courtship started then, the next stop he bought a ticket to come to Oklahoma. I was surprised. In Oklahoma my sister and brother-in-law met us. I introduced him to them. Margaret said we must hurry as she had dinner waiting. I told her the he was coming with me! the next day he had to hitchhike to the naval station. He used up all his money coming to Oklahoma. He came back once to visit, then after his discharge came to ND to see me! A courtship by mail! We married two years later.”

Dad’s version: “I had been home on leave from the navy base in Louisiana. I lacked funds for a bus ticket all the way back, so I hitchhiked during the day and rode the bus at night. I hitchhiked as far as Kansas City and got a ticket to Ft. Smith AK, planning on to hitchhike from there on. I had already boarded the bus and was napping. Someone asked if the seat beside me was taken and I woke long enough to say “no.” The next day I discovered a nice young lady sitting beside me. She asked me what I was reading and thus started talking. By the time we reached Joplin I decided to convert the remainder of my ticket and accompany her to OK. I stayed overnight there but needed to get back to the base, so went on the next morning. We started writing and continued till I got out of the navy and courted by mail.”

Thus began a romance that lasted 62 years. It ended like it started Mom and Dad sitting side by side, eyes only for one another. “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” Song of Songs 8;6-7 NIV

The nursing home is kind of an equalizer. The wealthy and poor, the formerly intelligent and those not quite so, are largely all in the same situation. Living out their last days on earth. As I sat in the dining hall helping my mom eat I would look at the various residents and wonder what stories their lives held. Did they marry, have kids, do well vocationally or struggle, were they largely happy or sad, etc…? Some received visitors and some didn’t and what did that say about them? As I thought about my mom I realized that she is rich, not financially though my parents were always comfortable, but in having my dad as her husband. You see my dad has cared for my mom for years when she could not care for herself. And now that she is near the end, he is with her day in and day out. She is never alone. He is always there to hold her hand, comfort her, make her smile, and put up with her when she is grumpy. She is rich, she has my dad. And you know what is fascinating? That is the nickname she always called my dad. Rich. How true she was.

Right before leaving us Jesus made a statement that makes us as believers rich as well. He said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:20 NIV

We too are rich, Jesus is always with us.

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.” Matthew 18:12-13 NIV. Every person matters; every last one.