Expecting

“I wonder what he (she) will look like?”

What parent-to-be hasn’t asked that question?

Mary and Joseph surely must have been wondering, too.

Five days before he was to be born, so much remained unknown.

Who would he be? What was God trying to do? The angel…the dream…it was all real, wasn’t it?

The days just prior to the birth of a child are overwhelming.

On some level, expectant parents (even experienced ones – maybe most of all) know that they’re sitting together in a little inflatable raft, just this side of Hoover Dam.

They know that at some point very soon, that dam is going to burst, and a flood of new experiences will flow forth in a way that changes life forever.

In the meantime, life goes on as usual inside the little vessel. Really, what else is there to do…but wait. These final days are the very definition of what it means to be “expecting.”

We’re “expecting.” It could be anytime. We wait.

I remember standing in my Grandmama’s “sewing room” when I was all of 9 years old. At 9 years old, I knew myself to be much more than a mere “child,” and I was working hard to shed my “childish” ways.

It was just about 5 days before Christmas. As she worked, making the final stitches on hand-made gifts for me and my cousins, I proudly proclaimed to my Grandmama, “This Christmas has just flown by…you know, I think they get faster every year.”

I didn’t really understand why she started laughing.

I do now.

The truth is that Christmas seemed to take forever in those days. The year’s journey from Christmas to Christmas seemed to last several lifetimes. That’s what excitement, hope and expectation can do to time in the mind of a child.

As the days go by, our account of years-lived grows larger and deeper. Our perspective begins to change.

The formerly cavernous space occupied by the period of a month or a year has collapses under its own weight. The years really do go by faster every time. The danger is that repetition can dampen excitement. Expectation can get lost in the shuffle of time.

Time changes things, and sometimes those changes are not easy for any of us.

The time is gone when little children will beg treats from my great-grandmother’s Christmas candy-filled apron, like I always did those many years ago. But the wonder of God’s world, and God’s time (it’s not really ours, after all) is that even still, her role will not go unplayed.

The generations of our family, like summertime-cousins playing “Mother May I,” have all taken one “Giant Step Forward.”

That Christmas, when I was 9, my Dad was the same age that I am now.

You get the idea. It all happened while we were expecting one thing or another.

And here we are.

…In time, his parents came to know what he would look like. Eventually, “the days were accomplished.” They years can teach us that we really are cast together in the great loom of time. The Christmas Baby teaches us of God’s love.

Our beginnings and endings may overlap, and we may even lose sight of one another for a time. He will not let us be lost forever.

“So that no one should perish…”

God really does love us that much, and yes --- he does have a plan.

On this, yet another 20th of December, I stood in my kitchen, sipping coffee. The house was quiet and dark. Across the way, a seven-year-old version of myself and a three-year-old version of his mother lay in their beds, sleeping away the hours till Christmas morning.

Sewing-room to kitchen. A short, little stroll…now decades long.

Jack Spitzer Roberts is waiting, too -- anxious to carry those Crockett County names into the world that he will help make.

For a moment, I felt that my own name could be Joseph as the thoughts felt their way through my mind: “I wonder what he’ll look like, be like, think like, play like, talk like…”

Our little raft bobs in the water…stirred by currents that came from the other side of the dam.

God was with that uncertain but faithful man and his frightened, young wife as they made their way, two millennia ago. They waited, and they wondered.

Their faith is our life raft.

Their child is our savior.

Excitement…expectation…hope…joy

Seconds…and…minutes…and…days…and…years.

We have never been alone, not in a single one of them…and we never will be.

May the peace of Christ fill you with all joy and expectation. May the clock run slowly, just like it did when we were kids. And may we savor each second, praising God with thankful hearts!

Grace and Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

"Baby Jack" Watch: Given the subject of this blog, it seems only fair to give you the update that Holly is 38 weeks and nearing delivery, and we're "waiting" to see what will happen when. Thanks so much to all of you who have kept Holly, me, Will, Sam and "Jack to be" in your prayers. We'll let you know! Adam

Christmas week is here! Take a look at our Christmas worship schedule, and please invite a friend to meet you at SOTH!

Tonight, 6:30 PM – Blue Christmas Worship, a time of reflection and remembrance for those who struggle emotionally and spiritually during the holidays. This service will be long on hope and celebration, and we hope that you will join us and all who look to Jesus for hope in their lives this season.

Sunday Morning, December 24th: One worship service only – 10 AM

Christmas Eve Communion and Candlelight: Two Service, 5 and 7 PM with childcare provided both times.

Christmas Morning, December 25: SERVANT EVANGELISM EVENT
Meet at SOTH at 7 AM Christmas Morning to join our team of servant evangelists who are going out to freely share the love of God with our community. Our team will be taking coffee and doughnuts to local fire and police stations and hospitals to help remember those who are away from home on Christmas morning and to tell them that God loves them. Making this small sacrifice on Christmas morning may make your time together even more meaningful and will really mean a lot to those who experience God’s love through this simple act of grace.

Sunday Morning, December 31st: One worship service only – 10 AM

Sunday Morning, January 7, 2007 – NEW WORSHIP SCHEDULE BEGINS!
9 AM and 11 AM with Sunday School for all ages, 10:15 AM