A Lunch to Laugh About Forever

On December 20, 1999, I was eating lunch in College Station, TX with my soon-to-be bride. In the middle of a delicious meal, Jill received a phone call from her mother. Jill was very animated during their conversation. Whatever her mother said to her really made her happy. I couldn’t wait until she said, “goodbye,” to find out what was going on.

After Jill ended the conversation, I asked, “Why was your mom calling? What did she say?”

Jill paused for a moment and then in a very polite and gentle manner said, “She wished me a happy birthday.”

Ouch. I had totally forgotten my fiancé’s birthday. (Your not supposed to do that until after you are married!)

That was one of the most awkward lunches in the history of dating. There was no way to recover from that one. I simply blew it.

Of course Jill was gracious and didn’t make a big deal out of it. In fact, we had a lot of great laughs about that lunch over the years.

As humans, we are all prone to let each other down from time to time. Imperfection is just a part of who we are. In fact, the Bible even states that it is possible for a woman to forget her baby at times. Isaiah 49:15 states, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget…”

Wow! God isn’t afraid to point out our human weaknesses –even the most unthinkable ones.

But God doesn’t just leave it there. He goes on to finish the verse saying, “yet I will not forget you.”

God never lets us down. He never disappoints us. And He never forgets His promises toward us.

He even remembers our birthdays. Better, He remembers our spiritual birthdays, recording our salvation in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 21:27). Because of that, one day, Jill and I will once again laugh together about that awkward birthday lunch!