It Had To Be Today: A Letter to My Niece
April 13th, 2025
To: Baby Riah
From: Auntie Nunu
Today you have made your triumphant entry into the world on this beautiful Palm Sunday.
When Jesus made His triumphant entry, in the Matthew account He quoted Psalm 8:2
“Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” (Psalm 8:2 NIV)
There’s a mystery in the kingdom that is attached to the praise of children and infants. Even the smallest of God’s creation has more strength than the strongest of enemies. Riah, your life is a reminder of that mystery. You are a sign and a wonder.
“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” (Isaiah 8:18 KJV)
I love the promises of God. Some of my favorite throughout scripture are “about this time next year” and “by this time tomorrow” because they are faith statements about how God can move within time.
Last year around this time, on the week of Palm Sunday, we got some heartbreaking news from your mom. She told us that something might be wrong with the baby she was carrying.
It had already been a long week of praying and hoping for a miracle but sadly, things didn’t work out the way we wanted, and she had a miscarriage.
It was hard. That’s the only way I could describe it.
The girls and I spent that Saturday with your mom. Your Auntie T drove down once she heard and so many others surrounded your mom and dad.
I was preparing to preach for Palm Sunday, but before leaving her house, we turned on Jesus Iye by Nathaniel Bassey, danced, and gave God praise.
Right at the end of the song he says:
“A woman who has been waiting for a baby, what was impossible, You make possible, Jesus Iye.”
Although it was a sad day, we were confident that God would redeem this story.
I preached the next day on Palm Sunday, mad at the devil but so confident in God.
Now here’s where I take a little detour before getting back to the story. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday aren’t fixed dates in the calendar like Christmas. They’re determined each year by the ecclesiastical lunar calendar, which is a mathematical approximation of the moon’s cycles, used only to determine the date of Easter. (Don’t get too lost in this)
I share this random fact because one of the prayers I had been praying was that before the anniversary of what happened, Jam and Don would have their miracle.
The calendar year since it happened has passed, but today marks the ecclesiastical lunar calendar date.
It had to be today.
Happy Birthdate, Riah. You are here, and you are His. I pray you always know how loved you are, how prayed for you’ve been, and how powerful your presence already is. The world is better because you’re in it.
Signed,
Your Cool Aunt
PS
To anyone reading this:
Maybe you’re waiting on a promise, grieving a loss, or standing in the middle of an unanswered prayer. I just want to remind you: God doesn’t forget. He moves in ways we can’t always track, on calendars we don’t always understand, but He’s always on time. Hold on to hope. Your “it had to be today” moment may be closer than you think.
One Verse
Habakkuk 2:3
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
