Anticipation

So here we are. After months of preparations, wondering, dreaming...it seems the end is so close. It's palpable. I can feel it in the air, in my bones. As I was walking the dog earlier and caught a glance of the moon through the clouds I felt it. Something really big is about to happen. I can't shake the dull sense of anticipation, of longing in my heart. It can't be too long now, can it?

My lovely wife is actually full term today, and there is a full moon. More importantly, she has been contracting more and more frequently leaving us waiting, wondering when our sweet child will make her debut into the world.

It seems fitting that this is all happening a week before Advent. The dull sense of anticipation I'm feeling, alone side all the preparations is exactly what this season is about. Advent is the time of anticipation, of preparations, of waiting. Sometimes during the Advent season we have to wait. We've made all the preparations we can and with pregnant anticipation; we wait. And I suspect, just like with the birth of my daughter (hopefully coming soon), what we are waiting for is so much bigger and more wonderful than anything we can imagine. Of course, I'm not saying that my daughter compares to the birth of the incarnate God, but in a much smaller way my daughter's birth will be life changing. The birth of the Jesus was, is, and always will be life changing.

But we can't get ahead of ourselves. We have to make the preparations we can. Build that dresser/changing table. Decorate that room. Dismantle the office/spare room. Etc... But we get to a point where we just have to wait and see how much our lives will change at the birth of a child. At the birth of the incarnate Word of God, but you can't rush that birth. No amount of spicy foods or walking can make the baby come, but it doesn't hurt to try these things to jump start the process. What are the preparation you need to make before you encounter the Christ, the living Word of God? How much can you do? And when do you just have to wait for God to come?