Waiting For A Baby

 

In this month of December and this season of Advent, Ann and I  find ourselves in a place where we have been before:  waiting for a baby.   Decades ago, I found myself waiting for the birth of a child.   This season like many other times, my wife Ann and I find ourselves waiting for the birth of a new grandchild in a few months.  Ann and I are mightily blessed with having 7 precious grandchildren as old as 14 years old and as young as a few months old.  They are all precious and a joy, and this season we wait for our 8^th grandchild. 

I find myself wondering  things serious and things inconsequential about this child:

·         What will he or she look like?

·         What kind of world are Ann and I leaving  for all our grandchildren?

·         Will this child be a Duke fan like me or will the child be a Carolina fan like their Mom?

·         What hopes and aspirations will  this precious child have as they grow to adulthood?

In these Advent days of December, I find myself reading again and again the stories about the birth of  Jesus.   In Luke 2, we read:

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”  ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”  ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[b] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”  ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her

There are times I feel troubled like Mary as we wait for this coming grandchild,  and there are times I feel blessed and highly favored also like Mary.    But time after time, I come back to the fact of not only do we have so much to give this coming  grandchild but that this coming  grandchild has so  much to give us just as did the Christ child who came as our Saviour long ago and still comes!  Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER

Mighty and merciful God, we thank you for the gift of life.  We thank you for the gift of children.  Especially in this season, we joyously yearn for the Christ that has come and is coming.  Come, Lord, Jesus, and save us from our sins;  through Christ our Lord. Amen.