Preparing a Place

The longer I spend time investing in the Bible and the longer I live, the more I understand what this verse means: 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Different verses stand out in different seasons which has continued to remind me that the Word is not stagnant, but is very much alive. I sometimes wonder if the Lord takes us through certain seasons to help us understand or trust or rely on Him in specific ways related to the Word He gave us.

One such passage for me, specifically in this season, is:

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

John 14:1-3

With roughly 5 weeks to go until our due date, the nesting phase has not kicked in wildly yet (no crazy cleaning happening), but I certainly feel the desire to begin preparing a place for our son. Throughout the pregnancy with our various baby showers, we’ve been asked if our nursery has a theme. I never really know what to say to that because I’m just glad we have a general color palette for our house, let alone a theme for a specific room! As gifts have come in, our theme has slowly formed around animals. One day, I decided to look up some wall decor and found these adorable baby safari animal prints with various sayings such as a giraffe with the words “Stand Tall” above its head. 

I was an unusual level of excited about these prints, and I think it’s largely because that was one of the few home purchases I’ve made that was done with the intention of creating an atmosphere. We’ve been incredibly blessed to have inherited a large amount of furniture and house items, but it means that we have not really figured out our taste. 

Something about specifically selecting those prints and getting ready to hang them on the wall has felt profound to me (other than them being so stinking cute).

I realized that I was actively engaging in the process of preparing a place for our son. Sure, we’ve selected our registry items, but that decision carried more weight because it was done with a different degree of intention. I chose those prints for our son’s room.

Maybe this is a small taste of what Jesus feels when He prepares a place for us in heaven. I’m not suggesting that He’s actively utilizing whatever version of Etsy is available to Him (creatives will still exist in heaven!) to decorate our heavenly rooms, but I like to think the places prepared for us will reflect a part of who we are on Earth. 

They say having a child gives you a totally new understanding of what the Lord’s love for you, as His child, feels like. While I may not be quite at that point, I think engaging in the process of preparing a place is a good start.