Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I am another year older today. I was born November 11. I will give you the century—the 20th—but you will have to guess the year. According to legend, my father left a pot of tea for my mother and left for work the morning of November 11. When he returned from work, he found mother, tea, and me in oor wee hoos on Welgate Street in Larkhall, Scotland.
I was the second son of three, but the only one born in Scotland. My older brother and my younger brother were born in Canada. My parents had emigrated from Scotland to Canada and welcomed my brother Bill into their lives in Hamilton, Ontario. Later, they returned to Scotland, where I was born. When I was three, they emigrated again to Canada, where my brother Bruce was born in Ottawa. A year later we moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, about 12 miles from Niagara Falls. That’s where I grew up.
In 1965 I became a U.S. citizen in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where I served as the pastor of Bell Avenue Baptist Church.
Frankly, I have always cherished my Scottish birth and heritage, but I cherish my birth into God’s family much more highly. January 18, 1952, I received Christ as my personal Savior and immediately became a member of God’s family (John 1:12). I also became a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20).
I don’t know how many more birthdays I will celebrate, but I want to honor God each day and serve as a channel of blessing to others. After all, what we put into our years counts far more than the years we put in.