His Arrival

Jordan and I are officially in the "final countdown": baby Langness can arrive at any time. To be honest, this reality doesn't exactly seem real. It's crazy, it's exciting, it's terrifying -- and it's still very surreal. Although my mind knows that at any moment the time for us to start making our way to the hospital could come, this moment still seems far away, like a distant possibility. Even so, and even though I'm filled with terror at the thought of such a little life being so completely dependent upon me, I am excited. I'm excited to meet this little guy who's been jumping on my bladder like it's a trampoline and kicking my ribs like they are soccer balls. I'm excited to see that hair that's given me heartburn for the first time in my life. I'm excited to learn alongside Jordan what it means to be a parent. And I know we're not the only one's who are excited.

We've got a couple of first-time grandma's (and grandpa's; they just hide their excitement a bit more) who can't wait for this little tyke to arrive, either. There are aunts and uncles who are anticipating the arrival of their nephew. Our church family is anxiously awaiting his birth as well. I think there could actually already be a waiting list to hold the baby at church; so many people have told us how excited they are, how they can't wait to hold baby Langness and cuddle him.

As I've thought about this excited anticipation regarding the arrival of our baby, I'm struck with thoughts of another arrival. An arrival that should fill each and every one of us with such excitement, such anticipation, that we cannot hold it in any longer. The arrival, the return arrival, of our Lord Jesus. Over the past couple of days, this song by Phil Wickham has been playing over and over in my mind:

"Here in the final hour, hope lifts the tired eyes. Here now, we are waiting for You to arrive . . . We are waiting, anticipating Your arrival . . . Voices raising, celebrating Your arrival. We'll keep the candle burning, we'll watch for every sign. Here now, we are waiting for You to arrive. Great things about to happen. Lord, let Your kingdom come and call us home to heaven, the city of our God. Haste the day!"

I have to ask myself: am I anticipating the return of Jesus as I am anticipating the arrival of our firstborn? Have I prepared for Jesus to return as I've prepared for this baby to arrive? Do I live each day with the reality that Jesus could return at any moment on the forefront of my mind? Or does that too seem to be a distant reality, one that I put on the back burner of my thoughts?

I hope and pray that the Lord would change my heart. I pray that He would make the truth of His return real to my heart and that He would fill me with an excited anticipation for His return. I pray that I would live each day in anticipation of His arrival.

"I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning." - Psalm 130:5-6