Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

My wife, Denise, and I are having a baby girl in June. In many ways I feel ready to have a baby. We’ve been talking about it for a while and we’re both very excited. We’ve seen the appropriate doctors, Denise is taking vitamins, we’re doing our best to make sure our dog is well trained, and we’ve started looking into cribs and toys and all of that.

But I’ve also realized lately that there’s only so much you can do to prepare. How can you be completely prepared for a person you’ve never met, to do things you’ve never done? You can’t. This is a lesson I’ve learned over and over again, whether adopting a dog, planning a fundraiser, or simply filling out my calendar for the week.

Just as Mary and Joseph didn’t really know what kind of child they would receive, neither can we totally prepare for what life will bring to us, as individuals or as a church. The prophets told Israel to prepare the way for the Lord, and then God gave them a baby. Rather than anticipating every scenario, preparation is more about willingness to receive what comes to you.

We have lots of hopes for our daughter, and we’ll do everything we can to give her the best life possible, but we also know the future holds many surprises. Fortunately, we make a good team and we complement each other well. One of us is organized and tasked oriented, for example, and the other is good at keeping certain anxieties in perspective. We’ve learned to communicate well about our own fears and hopes and frustrations. Our ability to prepare has a limit, but our love for each other and mutual trust makes up for that. 

As we look forward to another Christmas and a new year, we’ll have hopes and fears and plans, and that is as it should be. But we also must remember how small the number of things under our control really is. The best we can do is gather people together who love and respect each other, and be willing to accept whatever God sends our way trust and an open heart. 

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