Getting Ready
As a Pastor this is the time of the year where I realize I'm not ready. Even with the successful Children's Christmas Program in the rear-view mirror , not ready for Christmas Eve/Day in a week. We've got cardboard animals still lingering in the sanctuary like the Cantina on Mos Eisley. The service folders for the myriad of services are all blending together and I can't tell a 5PM Christmas Eve from a 10AM Christmas Day anymore. Plenty of sermons unwritten, and from a family perspective, plans and presents left to be sorted out.
I've really been trying to get ready for this next week for months, but when it comes to the birth of a child, you're never really ready. Our 3 boys were all born rather prematurely and even after their lengthy hospital stays, we brought them home knowing we weren't ready. Even with the Christ-child having an annual due-date of December 25th I still know I will not be ready. And I'm okay with that. New life is such a precious and inconvenient gift that I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Children turn our lives upside and if Mary's song is any indicator, Jesus is no different. So maybe instead of worrying about getting ready for a "picture perfect" Christmas for church and family, perhaps I should be getting ready for things to be turned upside down.