Baby on the Way!

I remember several distinct moments from my first pregnancy.

Watching the stick change color one month after my wedding was a moment of mixed emotion. I wanted children, desperately, but this was not the plan – not yet. This baby was not coming on my timing and I thought I had a plan. I thought I had things under control. Either way I had to end up getting a pregnant ornament as a surprise to announce it to my friends and family.

This baby was God’s reminder that He has His own plans.

 But, I was thankful to have nine months to prepare.

I remember the moment after my doctor’s office called to tell me to head to the hospital. He had decided to induce labor early for the sake of my health. I stared around my apartment thinking that my life would be completely changed when I next returned home. A door was closing as I prepared to step through another.

Then I remember after nineteen long hours of labor and the flood of excitement welcoming my son into the world, I was alone with him in my room watching the snow fall that night and I had a brief moment of panic. I’d spent months reading “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and preparing for labor and child birth. That was over. Now what?!

I needed to be instantly prepared to raise an entire human being! Where’s the book for that?! And how was I supposed to read it all before he woke again and needed something!?

This week, I’m reading Matthew 24. Verses 3-8 say this: “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”


We all have plans. But God’s plan transcends all others.

I’m sure it wasn’t Mary’s plan to give birth to God’s son. But God provided for her and gave her time to prepare.

We have had thousands of years of warning to prepare for Christ’s return. At some point, His plan will interrupt all others. It will come upon us like labor.

For a pregnant woman, nine months can feel like an eternity. Even when she knows it will eventually happen; it can feel like she is waiting for moment that will never arrive. Even when labor begins, the reality of a new life bursting onto the planet will not hit her until she holds the child in her arms.

The world is like a woman in her last trimester. Pregnant with God’s plan for so long, weary and wondering if eternity will ever truly arrive. But Jesus tells us the signs that labor has begun.


Every mother from Eve to Mary to me knows that once labor begins it takes over and there is no way out but through.

And once it is over, it will be forgotten. It will all be worth it for the new life at the other end. And we will all wish we were more prepared for that new life.

These are things to speak about this holiday season. As we hear of wars and rumors of wars, remind people that the world is beginning to feel the pangs of labor.

When people talk about Mary and her baby, remind them that that baby is due again only this time, He rides in on the clouds.

Speak of preparing, not for giving and receiving gifts but for the time to come. The only way out is through but there will be joy at the end.

Paul speaks of this in Romans 8: “18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.”

And then: “22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

It will come.

Just as the Messiah arrived in His time back in Bethlehem, so He will arrive at the end of the age. Just as mothers read “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” so we should be studying God’s Word because we are expecting His return.

Speak of these things with others this advent season, loved ones. Make the most of every opportunity.

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