It’s exciting times around my household as we await the coming of our third child, Baby Lee. We decided not to find out the gender of this baby beforehand. The way we figure it: our lives are too controlled and ordered so that there’s no more real surprises, and this is the type of surprise that no matter how it turns out, we’ll be excited. So we’re waiting and wondering.
Two nights ago, Sarah woke up at 3:00 am with contractions. That’s two weeks early, but seeing as all of our kids have been two weeks early, it’s not a cause for concern. To be honest, the reality of a third kid is really beginning to unsettle me. I felt like our second really stretched us, so the thought of a third is a bit overwhelming.
Since Wednesday, I started to think about how the expectancy and excitement of this third baby is very much like the expectancy that preceded the coming of the Messiah. Paul puts it aptly in Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
I feel the weight of what Paul is describing – waiting for the fullness of time with expectancy and anticipation, and in a sense, I think we’re all waiting for this fullness. We are awaiting the return of our Lord Jesus to bring about full restoration and judgment in the world. Until then, I’m grateful for the existential reminders of what time it is as I await the birth of our third little gift from God.