Are you ready?

If you have ever had a child before, you know this question all too well. Considering that Jen and I are expecting our first any day now, we are positively sick of this question. I mean, how do you answer that? What do they mean by "ready"? Do they even care about the answer or are they just trying to make conversation because they have no more advice to give you at this point?

As I was thinking about the answer to this question, a few thoughts crossed my mind. The first was, "I was born ready!" The second was, "Ready as I'll ever be." And then I thought how can you be ready or ready yourself for something you've never experienced? For that matter, how can you know that you are ready if you don't know what skills/knowledge/things you will need to do this thing that you have never done? Speaking for myself, I feel like I'm ready. Maybe not ready in the sense that I know everything there is to know about raising a child, but I'm ready because I believe that God has made me ready all along. He has blessed me with a wonderful wife and given me a wonderful knack for rolling with the punches and problem solving. I mean there are certain things you can prepare for like a test or a particular job, but then there are things like parenthood for which you absolutely cannot be physically prepared.

Isn't this though the essence of our faith? Jesus called Peter, James, John, and Andrew out of their ordinary lifestyles into a life of discipleship following Him. How could they have possibly been "ready" for something they knew nothing about? What about Saul/Paul? How could he have possibly been ready for his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus? The answer is that God had been preparing them all along. He knew from the beginning that He would call them to be disciples and apostles, just as He knew that He would call me to be a father. How could you be more prepared or ready than if God Himself had orchestrated your training; even without your knowledge.

So the next time someone asks you, "Are you ready?" You can confidently say something like, "Am I ready? Brotha/Sista, I've been gettin' ready for this my whole life!"

~A