The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1

It’s been a good week. Along with birthdays – mine and some friends’ – I celebrated a special, private anniversary this week. It is the day my family and I arrived in the United States which my father always called “Amerika” (probably because in German die Vereinigten Staaten is really a mouthful!)

It was May 22, 1950. My mother and father, my older brother Joe and I, along with my cousin Rosi who was 20, had crossed the Atlantic on the British ocean liner, the “Queen Mary. ” We’d left Europe from Bremerhaven in Germany about seven days prior to make the long voyage from war torn Europe to the Promised Land of America. I was a skinny, painfully shy six year old. Truthfully, I have few memories of that time of my life. I know the Atlantic seas were very cold and rough in May because we were seasick in our cabin and on deck. People on the ship were kind to my family. I vaguely remember having an orange to eat. A fellow passenger had to show my mother how to peel the orange because we’d never eaten one before. Much of the voyage is lost to me but I have a photograph of us standing on the deck of the Queen Mary, being blown by the wind, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. It is a precious picture. The day after we landed I had my seventh birthday.

My family came to the U.S. as immigrants. Their former lives had been totally destroyed during the war. It’s a story much too complicated for a 500 word blog but I’d love to tell you about it some time. Post- War Germany was economically, socially and spiritually ruined. There was no opportunity or future. More importantly, there was no hope for families to survive let alone thrive, especially for refugees like us. The decision to leave must have been excruciatingly difficult for my parents because a remnant of the family was left behind. Some followed later; others remained in Germany. At that time travel across the Atlantic was difficult and arduous, so saying “farewell “ was sadly permanent. My Keller Oma (maternal) saw my mother again only twice in the eight years before she died.

I think about my parents’ courage and devotion. I think about how much they loved Joe and me to make such huge sacrifices for us to have a better life, especially through education. Mostly, I reflect on the countless blessings I’ve received since our arrival so long ago in this country, the undeniable blessings of life, liberty and happiness under God. Faith sustained my parents especially in the difficult years of acclimating to a new language, a new country, new customs, new fellow travelers and new ways of thinking. God has always been in the equation, sometimes visibly but often invisibly. Looking into the rear view mirror of my life, I can testify that His protection, love and mercy are undeniably real.

That day when we disembarked from the Queen Mary to step onto American soil, everything changed. A new life unfolded. The future held hope and promise. War’s death heads were ending. Eventually, traumatic memories faded. We found healing, peace, freedom and security. We became citizens in a new land.

Is this not what God intends for us all along? Is this not the blessed invitation Jesus gives when He steps onto the path before us and calls us to Himself? Come. Leave the old country, the old ways, the old demolished life. Come follow Me and I will make you… Jesus offers a life in Him so filled with promise it seems impossible, but the promises are from a loving Father who does the impossible.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

God had a definite plan for me and my family. His Word promises the same for all through faith in Christ. Jesus is our salvation greater than any ship, however, powerfully it tries to tame the sea. He can and will take you through contrary tempests to the shore of His love. He offers the eternal kingdom of God which is never confined to any country on earth. Believe. Respond to His Voice. Be reborn.