Last night husband and I made a run to the labor and delivery floor. Everything is totally fine, we were just being cautious. I am convinced the purpose of the trip was to reveal our total and complete lack of preparation for Baby Squirt. Up until now we have casually talked about "Oh, we should do this" or "Maybe we should pack a bag now." Last night, en route to the hospital, we realized the infant car seat resided in a trash bag next to the Christmas decor in our attic. At our home. Still in storage from a year ago. Awesome.
We also realized we haven't taken the time to prepare our home to grow. I know that sounds odd. My first reaction to my own thought is, "Well it's a little late now!" but honestly, adding to a family takes some preparation. We've been talking to Sesame about Squirt, but haven't done as much discussing amongst the two of us.
I thought of the gospels. John the Baptist's sole job being to prepare a way for Christ. "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God..." (Luke 1:76-78) and "You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ " (John 3:28) How cool. How awesome that my Lord and Savior would see preparation so important to the human experience that he would send a single person, filled with the Holy Spirit, to clear the way for Christ to reveal Himself.
Now, I'm not saying that this is on the same level as our preparation for Squirt. Goodness gracious no. I'm just recognizing how important preparation is to humanity. This isn't the only place we see God specifically taking time and making effort to prepare His people for an event. We see it in Matthew 26:17-30 with the preparation for the Passover, which, come to find, is really a time of Christ preparing his disciples for His physical departure from them. We see it in the Old Testament numerous times in preparation for battle (Joshua), to re-build the temple (Ezra), to prepare for a nation to be born and show the light of Christ (Genesis) and a call to followers to Prepare for the Lord by removing obstacles from their paths. (Isaiah)
The Lord knows our nature. He created it. Established it. He even ordains the anointed human soul when unblemished by sin. There is a need, a desire, to be prepared in all of us; even if we don't always feel that small to-do list in the back of our minds. When that need is unmet, worry and anxiety set in and preside which is something we are not called to act upon (Philippians 4:6). The kinds of preparation we see in the Bible are eternal. They all work/worked together to prepare for the final coming of the King.
Now, like I said, I know our preparation for Squirt is not on a level playing field with Christ's return. I mean, hello! But, for whatever reason, the Lord has layed these two ideas on my heart in tandem. Squirt will be arriving (hopefully not for 4-5 more weeks) and will be tiny, new and helpless. As the Momma and Daddy it's our job to care for this completely dependent life. It's our job to mold this tiny personality. The first step in this process is to be models for Christ. How can we present Christ to our infant if we are worried? If we are anxious? If we are unprepared? I'm not saying we need to go all Mom-zilla with five thousand plans,etc. but having the car seat ready and bag packed, might be a good idea. :) Christ didn't just show up in the world, He let people know what was coming and even how to prepare for Him.
Maybe it's time we made a list to be a bit more prepared.
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