I had five minutes. I dashed (more like waddled) into the closet and snatched the onesie from the hanger and threw it into a small suitcase lying open on the bed. The contractions weren’t slowing. My only motivator was an unscheduled doctor’s visit now scheduled within the hour to check and see if things were okay.

It had been over eighteen hours of contractions. They typically started in the afternoon or evening, Braxton hicks, but weren’t a huge deal. I was used to them. I remember them being quite strong with my middle child, having to literally support myself on kitchen counters and breathe through those ‘false labor pains.’ They might last a couple hours or so but would always abate. Not this time.

I had been up all night and at this point couldn’t think much beyond getting out the door. This was not on my calendar for the day. I mean, the kids had dental appointments that morning, and school. I had a list ten miles long of work-related tasks—meetings, a sermon to finish, preparation for our kids club the following week. In fact, I had a lot of things for which I needed to prepare, but now found myself frantically preparing for that which I was unprepared.

You would think, being a pastor, being in Advent (a season that stresses preparation and expectation), a season that actually relates to a holiday celebrating the birth of a child, I would have that theme on my mind a little more. And, to be honest, I did. We were prepared with Advent readers for the month, services lined up, Christmas eve service scheduled. I was looking at all the typical religious places, just not down at the reality of this giant baby belly growing daily. There may be only two and half weeks until Christmas, but there was the quickly approaching deadline of under five weeks for a due date of my own. Hmmm. Somehow I compartmentalized that one all too well.

In my list of to do items, a baby’s arrival comes sequentially. After Charge Conference. After clergy assessments. After clergy/church profiles. AFTER ADVENT. AFTER CHRISTMAS! But here I was, with the dawning realization that in a season of preparation I was grossly unprepared for the reality of an unexpected arrival of my own.

Socks.

We didn’t have socks. Well, we did. But no socks for the baby. I mean, I’m sure there were some somewhere, but they, like the sleep sacks, and various other baby items were packed away in a basement box and not available for my supermarket sweep version of packing a potentially needed hospital bag. That’s okay. We can deal with that later. That’s what blankets are for right?

        

24 HOURS LATER

 

“I think you may have a budding meteorologist on your hands.”

I was on the phone with my mom as snow fell thick from heavy-laden clouds. Fortunately, we were in the comfort of our own home. After thirty hours of contractions they finally eased up late Thursday night. The sock issue was a non-issue. Thankfully. The called for possible ‘dusting’ of snow had turned into a major snow event. Apparently I wasn’t the only one caught unprepared this week. Maybe Baby Quatro was just sounding the alarms for our incoming snowstorm. Whatever the case, we got off the hook.

Very cute God. I hear you. Advent, Latin for “coming.” Prepare.

As the snow grew from a mere couple inches to close to a dozen, our Saturday plans were put on halt. A mandatory Sabbath from our family’s often inane schedule. The Sabbath snow gave us just a wee bit of time to begin some preparations of our own, and allow Advent to teach us some critical lessons.

Advent has included several themes of preparation:

• The coming of the Messiah to the Jews.
• The coming of Jesus into the world at Bethlehem.
• The second coming of Jesus in final victory.
• The continual coming of Jesus into the hearts and lives of believers.

(Understanding Advent Music Musing #130 by Dean McIntyre)[1]

Preparation and expectation go hand in hand. You prepare for that which you are expecting. Rarely do we prepare for that which we are not expecting. And even when we expect something to happen, expect an event to occur, or are literally expecting new life (ahem, um, baby…), preparation can occasionally fall by the wayside when we find ourselves busy, distracted, or expecting things to go along our own, limited timeline.

Advent is such a treasured season because it isn’t simply an elaborate overture to Christmas with an extension of purchases, music and feasting. Advent is a meaningful and much needed season in and of itself. It is a call like a voice in the wilderness of busy holiday schedules, over-saturated to-do lists, and an increasing hamster wheel of stress-generating activity that cries out, “PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD!  Make straight paths for him.”

Prepare.

Expect.

Hope.

Re-orient your lives toward the coming Christ Child. The King. The Lord of all. Because this is an event that is happening.

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” -Matthew 24

Christ has come. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Being caught unprepared is no fun. It is, quite frankly, anxiety inducing. Lack of preparation means a rush, things or tasks that are left behind, a spirit of worry, a frenzied and unfocused reaction to unexpected events. When it comes to a life of faith, being unprepared to encounter Christ leads wide open the back gate for fear, uncertainty and anxiety to creep in. It allows our faith life to be dictated more by the mundane tasks that we have elected masters over our own life rather than the call of God.

It is not only in some apocalyptic, final tribulation moment that God is expecting us to be prepared to be faithful people.

God desires us to be prepared to receive Christ

Every

Single

Day.

And when Christ shows up in unexpected places we will have to face the reality of whether or not we have properly prepared our hearts to receive Him. When we feel the painful discomfort of God calling us to something new, something where Christ is born anew in our lives, we can either react as a people who have set aside the time and energy of preparation and expectation, or people who are caught completely unaware.

We can respond by shrinking away, fearfully running the other direction, anxiously burying our heads in the sand and pleading with God to send someone else because we just aren’t ready yet—– OR rise above our own insecurities and fears trusting that the God who has been at working preparing our hearts for this encounter will also prepare us for the work ahead.

If anything, the Christmas story shows us that God does show up. In love and sacrifice God appears. And God’s presence in this world is often in an unexpected place, at an unexpected time, amidst unlikely people. Not everyone was ready. In fact most of the world missed the arrival of God in the flesh with the birth of Jesus. But that didn’t stop Christ from coming. And for those who were prepared: who heard and responded faithfully to the message of God’s hope for the world, Christmas was a most holy night indeed.

Expect God to show up. Prepare your heart to receive Christ. Trust in the Holy Spirit to guide you.

May God catch you prepared with joyful anticipation and expectation this Advent.

 

Advent Blessings,

Pastor Nicole

[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/understanding-advent