This week we moved into our new home. A bit of a whiplash feeling hit me last night, as only two months before (to the day) we decided to just check out a place. Now, here we are in a new location, surrounded by boxes and disorder.
As I have been unpacking the kitchen I have been working hard to fit our goods into less cupboard space than we had previously. It has been a bit like playing Tetris to provide room for our stuff in this smaller kitchen. Believe me, this place has ample space, with a fantastic storage closet down the hall, I just need to prioritize what will take up precious room in the kitchen.
Odd, though it might sound, this process has encouraged me to be focused on a familiar phrase at Christmas and a song from church last Sunday.
prepare him room
This morning I was reading from the Gospels about Mary and Joseph, expecting to read about their preparations for the birth of their son. I am certain that they did prepare, but … they were on a road trip up until the time of the birth of their son. There was nothing noted about baby clothes (or cloths) gathered, prenatal classes, the construction of a cradle, or doctor visits. They simply followed the path that was laid out for them.
As if the preparations were within and completed over the years of their lives.
In this season we are preparing for the celebration of the birth of the Christ child. But, what preparations are taking our time and energies?
Decorations? Baking? Shopping and gift wrapping?
What if the past 365 days have been all the preparing that has been required of us? What if, each day of our lives, our hearts have been open to hearing God’s voice, his call on our lives. What if, like Mary and Joseph, simply living in blind trust of God was all the preparing we did?
“The question, you see, is not to prepare but to live in a state of ongoing preparedness …”
Henri Nouwen
itsawonderfilledlife 