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I'm the kind of person who likes to have everything planned out. Even if that plan changes, I feel most secure when I have a good idea of what my next step's going to be. I have an app on my phone that counts down days to events, so I know exactly how long I have to raise that amount of money or sew that costume.
I have a counter on my phone right now, titled "Niece Arrives!" As I type, the numbers read: 9 days, 6 hours, 41 minutes, and 51 seconds.
You see, my niece wasn't planned. My friend Jon went to college with me, our third school we've attended together in our decade of friendship. He and his beautiful girlfriend, Lynn, called me on Christmas Day last year to let me know that their plan, which had gone as follows:
+ Get degrees
+ Get married
+ Go to medical school
+ Find a house to buy near med school
+ Have kids
was about to change.
It was hard at first to adjust to the idea of having a mini-Jon running around. It took a second to adjust to the idea that I (the "mom friend") would have children later than Jon, who didn't even want to *talk* to girls until tenth grade. I'm still adjusting to the fact that Dr. Jon, the aspiring surgeon, will become Nurse Jon instead, especially when that was his dream since we met all those years ago.
But we both, in our different ways, have made new dreams and new plans. We plan the hospital day: who's bringing what to the delivery room, who's rallying friends and family for the big arrival, etc. We dream about when she's a few months old, and I'm ready to babysit her, and all the books we'll read together.
I imagine how she'll look: maybe her father's eyes and her mother's hair. I imagine her coming over to my house after both of our school days are over, doing different kinds of homework at the dinner table. I imagine every single way I'll spoil her, and even imagine her as the flower girl at the wedding I hope to have years from now.
I know I can't control anything from here on out. How she looks and acts, her likes and dislikes, the challenges we'll face together are all up to God. But I'm honored to be there beside her, beside her parents, as we all go on this journey together.
Nine days to go until the little princess arrives.
Heaven help us!