Waiting is the hardest part! Our daughter Avery was supposed to be born on September 24th, it’s the 27th now and she still isn’t here. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. Kelly and I are both pretty punctual people, so if she is going to be late everywhere she goes, that’s going to be rough :). The anticipation of waiting for you children to be born really is hard to out into words. The way I have described it to a few people is that it’s like the feeling you got a few days before Christmas morning as a kid. You know; that can’t sleep, counting the hours, I wonder what I got, giddy feeling. I think this is as close as adults get to that feeling. I woke up at 4:00 this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I just kept thinking about her…
What’s she going to look like?
What’s her personality going to be like?
Is she going to be a talker like her brother?
What things is she going to be passionate about?
What sports is she going to play?
What books is she going to like to read?
What’s her voice going to sound like?
What things are going to make her laugh?
In a nutshell, I just can’t wait to meet this little girl. This little girl that the King of the universe is entrusting to my/our care, protection, and guidance. What a responsibility; what an honor.
As I have been doing all of this anticipating, I have also been studying Ephesians 1:3-6. The passage reads
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
In love he predestined us to be ADOPTED. I remember the moment for me that it happened for me. I was sitting on a rock on a trail in the San Juan Mountains. The Holy Spirit did something in my heart that, to this day I can’t completely put into words. All I can say is that at that moment Jesus became amazingly beautiful and captivating to me and everything else in the world seemed to take a back seat. I became one of His adopted sons.
I started thinking this week… I wonder if God anticipated that moment. We know that heaven parties when people repent of their sin and follow him (Luke 15), but I wonder if God waits with the angels in baited anticipation of the people who will come to know him. I wonder if they watch on as it happens; as more and more people are adopted as sons and daughters of the King. As more become trophies of His grace on display for the universe to see. I wonder if HE anticipates?
Because his adoption of us is motivated by his great LOVE, I’d like to think he does.
