Getting Ready ...

We're getting ready.

Getting ready for Christmas, to be sure. As a pastor, there are a few ministry-related details to the season. As a family, there are some Christmas traditions that we are enjoying and anticipating. But we're also getting ready as a family to spend time in Kabala, Sierra Leone (much relief with the arrival of our visas in the mail earlier this week!). 

The Reverend Gates (the preacher's voice in Paul Simon's "Getting Ready") encourages his flock to get ready for Christmas Day with a longer and broader view than just the bustling season. As a family, we don't know fully what we're getting ready for with our trip to Sierra Leone. But we have hopes and longings about what God might do in our hearts and lives and in His world. So does the Reverend Gates. And so does Paul Simon: 
      Getting ready, oh ready, ready for Christmas Day
      Ready, getting ready
      For the power and the glory and the story of the
      Christmas Day