The concept ‘kairos’ is all about living into God’s time, and not imposing our own onto it. How hard it is to do that in a culture that tries to control, micromanage, every second of Chronos-time!
At Kairos’ household, this concept is being employed, tested, as we’re waiting, waiting, waiting for the arrival of our babes. We thought it could happen way too early (twins often come early). We toured the NICU, got the room ready in the second trimester. Stocked up on premie diapers. All that. But, for us, that was not in the cards.
Then we thought that it likely would come sometime the last two weeks. That would have been average for Twins, and they are ‘full term’ now. So we thought for sure this was it. I cleared my plate of long term projects. Ms. Kairos took vacation time at work. We made sure the bottle warmers worked and that I had read the books I needed to read to know something of what I was supposed to be doing. But, lo and behold, no babes yet.
Now we’re in the home stretch. Tests show that the babies are doing great, with no real medical reason for them to induce (for the next two weeks, ack!).
So we wait. Could happen tonight. Could happen weeks from now. And we release ourselves to God and God’s time. But waiting is hard (particularly for Ms. Kairos, whose body aches and isn’t fully hers any longer and who can’t sleep and can’t empty her bladder and so on). But we are living into the fullness of God’s time. We know that they’ll be here when they are ready. Take your time, Girls. We’ll be waiting for you…
Isaiah 40: 28-31 (NRSV)
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Reyes-Chow says
August 4, 2006 at 2:18 amJust cruising around blogland and saw your post. I think we met at Yale this year. Congrats and welcome to the girls! Prayers coming your way from San Francisco!
kairos says
August 4, 2006 at 8:17 amHey, thanks for the well wishes and your greetings! I am sure we’ve not met at Yale (I’ve been there, but wasn’t there this year, alas…), but it is good to greet you online.
Peace be with you…
landon says
August 4, 2006 at 9:48 amWhew. Thanks for the good laugh. I needed that.
Sorry. Just a little ribbing from the father of three.
kairos says
August 4, 2006 at 10:29 amHeh. That was meant to be facetious. Glad someone caught it. 🙂
Michael Kruse says
August 4, 2006 at 1:53 pmI’ve been wondering how things were going. Good to hear all is well.
My mother has said (repeatedly) that I woke her up just after midnight and was born by 3 am. She says that was the last thing I did in a hurry in my life. *grin*
In the immortal words of Ferris Buehler, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.”
Peace
gannetgirl says
August 8, 2006 at 2:01 pmJust found you via Quotiduan Grace and thought I would wish you well! Maybe today? My twins were induced at 41 weeks. They’ll be 22 on 9/1. Your next 22 years will probably go faster than the next 22 hours!
kairos says
August 8, 2006 at 3:04 pmThanks, gannetgirl, for the well wishes! Maybe today? Perhaps. Who knows. We’ve got an induction scheduled on the horizon; we’ll see if we get there or not.
Glad to see you here, and peace be with you!
Chuck Currie says
August 9, 2006 at 12:11 pmI’m the father of twins myself. Frances and Katherine are now two. They are without question the cutest and smartest children ever to walk the earth (yours will be too). My advice to parents of twins waiting for babies: take plenty of naps now and watch whatever movies you’ve been waiting to see. We’re still catching up on sleep and never get to see movies anymore. But we go on lots of walks, visit lots of parks, are regulars at the zoo, and get to sit in bed with our kids every morning (starting anywhere between 5-6am). Two years have passed so quickly that I can hardly stand it. Enjoy every minute of your babies!