Preparing for the baby

 Celebrate! Praise God! The baby is coming! We must prepare! Yeah! Yippy!
 
The baby I am celebrating was born in China on July 28, 2025.  We learned today she and her mother will travel to Tampa from Brazil in March, 2026, for a paintball tournament.  I expect the baby’s father, our son, will travel with them. 
 
I am already thinking of the myriad of the baby items we will need to properly host an 8-month-old girl: a crib, a playpen, a car seat, toys, diapers, high chair, soft blankets, and, and, and.  Those items are in scarce supply in a community with a population of 25,000 residents over the age of 55 and virtually no one younger.  And we must remember to child-proof the condo, scrub the guest bath, and clear out the sewing room.  I am tired just thinking about it. 
 
All this for a human baby. What more should we do in preparation for the birth of Jesus? Jesus who is both God and human.  Jesus who dwelled among the people in the Holy Land over 2000 years ago and yet dwells in the hearts of all who, since then until now and into the future, believe in him.  Jesus who ate bread and share the cup with his disciples and who offers his body as our bread of life and his blood as the cup of our salvation.  Jesus who suffered a very human death and was resurrected into a heavenly body.  Jesus who ascended into heaven and who will return to judge all humans, living and dead. 
 
Jesus does not need the accoutrements of twenty-first century baby raising; He needs believers who live in humble obedience.  We do not need a crib; we must prepare a place for him to dwell in our hearts.  We do not need to stranger-proof our homes; we………. We do not need to prepare for him a sumptuous feast; we must share the ‘bread’ of our lives with those around us.  We do not need to selfishly praise God for his gift of life; we must offer the knowledge of salvation through Jesus to those who don’t know him.  We do not need to look around us and notice people who are different or who sin in a public way; we must love people and leave the judgement to Jesus.

Prepare by thinking about this poem by Ann Weems:

THE COMING OF GOD
 
Our God is the One who comes to us
in a burning bush,
in an angel's song,
in a newborn child.
Our God is the One who cannot be found
locked in the church,
not even in the sanctuary.
Our God will be where God will be
with no constraints,
no predictability.
Our God lives where our God lives,
and destruction has no power
and even death cannot stop
the living. 
Our God will be born where God will be born,
but there is no place
to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready
God will come
even to a godforsaken place
like a stable in Bethlehem.
Watch ...
for you know not when
God comes.
Watch, that you might be found
whenever
wherever
God comes.
 
 Weems, Ann. (1987). “The Coming of God”. 
Kneeling in Bethlehem. Louisville.
 Westminster/John Knox Press. 15