Mud + Water: The Practice of Preparing

I get out of my car, and the early morning light is distant against the parking lot and railroad tracks. There is a newness to the morning that makes me breathe deeply. I am reminded of driving on that bridge last winter, seeing the city skyline enveloped in fog like old bones. I rolled my window down and wanted to call out, "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!" Just as the hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel in the Valley so many years ago {Ezekiel 37}. The people in this city, the people in this world are waiting for a stirring that breathes life into them, and as Christmas time approaches there is a heaviness that is unknown to them, an urgency for something more. We wait for the Messiah who enters our world. We wait for a Perfect One to come, to live among us, to experience life with us and offer something better. There is a holy waiting time, and we can feel it, a thick presence all around that veils itself within music, laughter, and holiday cheer.

As I walk across the bare parking lot, a cloud of fog stirs across my path, and I fish for the keys and open the Coffee House door. In this open space, I am alone. I brew a fresh pot and let the air-tight bag of fresh Guatemala roast coffee beans spill into the grinder. The flavors extracted from the beans fill the room and warm me. As the coffee brews, I wait, pen in hand, and write.This precious time and space clears my mind of all the cluttered "to-do"s and allows me to unwind the layers of my week. I peel away all the stress, frustration, and busy tendencies that the holiday season can bring.

I sit in silence, and prepare my heart in the only way I know how: being still before the Lord. I call to Him, I write down the parts of me and parts of my week that wear away at me, and beside those words I write down all of the names I call Him - to remind me who He is and how His character and mercy is enough. And His son, who is sufficient of all things, stands before the Father to bear the weight of my sin. I read the list of His beautiful names beginning and ending with the Great I AM beside the list of my failures, and my heart becomes pliable in His hands. I smile a knowing secret on my lips, for I know of Him who has come and has promised to come again. Just as the Infinite God of the Universe came humbling himself in the form of a man, I ask Him to make more room in my heart - to stretch me - to come and dwell with me this day and always.