Every morning he carefully places Georgie on the staircase. “Don’t let anyone touch him.” he calls as he heads out the door for the bus.
He’s on the cusp, this almost seven year old. He still loves his favorite stuffed animal, but no longer ‘needs’ to carry him everywhere he goes.
I look at George on the stairs. He is a symbol of readiness to me. Of faithfulness. Of alertness. Of never abandoning the post, the calling, the purpose.
And now he sits amongst Christmas stockings. Who are only hanging there because the puppy jumps and pulls them off the mantle with a crash. Nonetheless, there they are, ready to be filled. Waiting. Ready for their time.
I pass them all a hundred times a day. May my glances at them remind me to be ready for the one we are awaiting. With anticipation. Preparedness. Ready for a birth, a life that will change the world.
They look ‘ready’there…maybe next year the mantle…