Five Minute Friday: Prepare
It’s another Five Minute Friday. Don’t know why I got out of the habit with these!
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you; encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...
GO
We’re almost done Christmas shopping. Aaron and I are mentally high fiving each other for being both quick and economical – for the most part. Last night, we walked through our list of gifts for the kids and thought about whether or not they needed more. They don’t. What we have on hand for them to open Christmas morning is perfect. It’s exactly what each would want, and with just a teeny bit of superfluousness, just enough.
We are basically prepared. Boom. Go us.
In the background of all this hustle and bustle to prepare for an exciting morning in a few weeks is BabyGenius4. I’m almost 1/2 way through this pregnancy; and to sound perfectly cliche, it’s going so unbelievably quickly. I’m afraid I’m going to blink, and she’ll be here — and we won’t have anything ready. Her room won’t be painted. Her bedding won’t be chosen. The house will still be a wreck.
And in the moments that I think about preparing for my fourth baby (This shouldn’t be any kind of shocker to me, right? I’m not new to the game), I consider Mary and Joseph who knew they had quite a big deal going on with the impending birth of their baby. They traveled to Bethlehem to be counted for the census, and Mary was large – super large. I’ve been in her shoes — I’ve been the very large woman (3 times already!) — and I can’t imagine having to ride long distances on the back of a donkey of all things. Let alone knowing that I was about to give birth to the Savior of the world.
I’m sure Mary didn’t feel prepared. Granted, she may have had some experience with babies. I’d assume women in that time helped a lot with each others’ births and friends’ toddlers. But, there’s nothing like having your own baby. And no matter how many babies you’ve already had, there’s no preparing for or planning for the little personality of the baby you’re about to have. Miss Sassy Pants, the Animal, and Flash were vastly different as newborns.
So, I think of Mary and about the awesome task she was given. And I remind myself that I, too, should be thinking right now about that preparation. I’m reminded of the hymn and carol, “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel,” — a song I hadn’t really listened to before last year. In the crazy that is the Christmas gift-giving season, I should be taking time to slowly and carefully consider the extreme awesomeness of the gift we were given so many years ago.
STOP
