Waiting for a baby is like waiting for the Lord Jesus to return.
You never know the day or hour when he may come and if you are not ready it will catch you off guard. Sure enough, on Monday morning, August 2nd, Molly woke me with a familiar urgency in her voice. It was 12:35 AM and she told me her water had broken. We were still fifteen days from the due date for the birth of our baby but we were keenly aware he could come at any time. Sure enough, our journey to the hospital would end with us returning with a bustling baby boy in the backseat.
The birth went exceptionally well. I like to jest that my wife has a superpower for having babies (after six kids, I am convinced of it). Yet, I know that the Lord is the one who ordered all these events. Dozens of prayers were answered as we welcomed Patten Gold Weidmann into the world at 9:51 AM on August 2nd, 2021. He weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces and was a tall twenty-one inches.
The night he was born, I had decided to take a sleeping aid. I hadn’t packed a thing. The dishes were still in the sink from that evening’s dinner. Our house was its usual mess and the car seat for the new little guy wasn’t even assembled. We knew he was coming, but we were not ready. Yet, ready or not, here he came.
Jesus had given a warning about His second coming saying, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:13, NLT). The birth of a child is a great reminder to take this seriously; are you ready for the coming of the Lord at any moment? We know Jesus is coming — just like we knew our baby was coming — but we put things off because we thought we have more time. But do we really have more time?
Readiness for Christ’s return can look like repentance.
Readiness can look like disciplined spirituality.
Readiness can look like granting and asking for forgiveness.
Readiness should look like anything we can to be more like Christ in anticipation of meeting Him.
If we are not living with anticipation that Jesus is coming soon, we will be caught off guard. It may be too late to do the things we wish we had done or said we would get to later.
Our Baby is a Reminder of Christ’s Goodness
We’ve chosen to name our little baby, Patten Gold Weidmann. Names are important in the Bible, and in our family as well.
- Randy Patten is a faithful man of God, pastor, and biblical counselor. He has impacted Molly and me in the deepest way. He has taught me God’s Word, biblical counseling, invested deeply in our marriage, and been used by God to keep me in ministry. We named him after Randy Patten to remind us of God’s faithfulness.
- Gold is Molly’s maiden name, but also a good reminder that God refines us by fire like gold so we can better reflect our Lord (1 Peter 1:7).
- Patten means “noble” and we hope that he will live an honorable life for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27).
May this little life—and every day of life we enjoy—remind us that we are not home yet. Jesus will be returning to get us, but we don’t know when. So let’s live every day like it could be today.
