Going Before

As soon as I saw those pink lines, my mind was racing. Who will this baby be? What will my baby look like? What kind of nursery will I prepare? Or what will my mama and sisters help dream up? So many thoughts consume every waking minute. Oh, how I wish I could go back to those simple moments in my crazy mind.

But, this was before we knew we wouldn’t bring Will home. So, we prepared. We set the crib up. Coy painted and patched holes in the old guest room. Coy put up a new light. We bought clothes. My mama (and daddy) bought a wardrobe fit for a coming prince. We bought diapers. All the newborn diapers we could. And then we were given his estimated weight. So we started buying size 1 diapers.

The weekend before Will was born, we got the house ready. Coy cleaned for hours. Scrubbing everything. I washed clothes. I got a pedicure. Nothing was scheduled, we could just feel the anticipation. He was on the way and this home was waiting on him. His crib was waiting. My arms were waiting. My heart was ready.

I have thought about all of the prep that went into this room and the only thing I can come up with is that maybe God felt a little bit like this as He was preparing Heaven.

John 14:3 says “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.“

The living God we serve went way before us to prepare a place we can’t even imagine with our earthly eyes. He sat and dreamt about the day each of His children who would receive His free gift would come into that place. I can’t imagine the anticipation He feels for each of us. He created every single one of us. He knows our every ounce of being, and still chooses to love us.

He had hope while preparing Heaven that one day all of His children would be in this place he prepared. My sweet Will was not able to come to this home we prepared for him, he’s in a far greater place than we can imagine right now. We wanted to bring him to this place but there were much greater plans for his short life. We pray that Will will someday be a big brother. And I have hope that we will one day have another baby to fill this place we have prepared. Not just the physical place, but a huge place in our hearts and arms.