Prep Periods

My Dad taught high school for his entire career...and I remember how he always talked about his "prep period." It changed from year to year...and occasionally he'd be lucky enough to have it the very first or last hour of the day...or right next to lunch. He was a hard worker and always used that time appropriately, but there was still something about it that was just a great sigh of relaxation. Even though he still had tasks to do...he was free of the structure for that hour and could enjoy preparing for later.

A big part of my work day each day is kind of like a prep period. I have the hour in the morning where I grab my headphones and head into Studio A to banter with the guys, and I have the hour where I sit behind the engineering board in Studio B and assist Lynne...but the rest of the day is a juggling act of preparation for the next day...the next week...the next meeting...the next contest...the next show I'm helping to host. Lots of prep. Lots of work, but lots of freedom and joy mixed in.

I was reading in Luke 2 earlier this week {yes, I know we're approaching Easter, not Christmas, but it was part of the reading for the Lent study I'm doing} and this whole idea of preparation hit me in a way it hadn't before.

I was reading about Simeon and Anna...the two people mentioned at the end of Jesus' infancy...who met him in the Temple and found fulfillment in their own calling and ministry because of His arrival. The part about Anna, especially, moved me: "She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying." {Luke 2: 37}

Anna's whole life was preparation for that moment. She had long been widowed after a short marriage, and her purpose after that time was to go to the temple and fast, pray and worship. And after years of that preparation...God rewarded her. God brought to pass the moment she'd been preparing for her entire life.

While I would imagine Anna found a great deal of comfort, joy, and fulfillment in the years that prepared her for that day, I would also imagine those were some hard times. Some wondering if the answer would ever come. Some longing. Some aching. Some tears.

Waiting in real life...prepping in real life...might not always feel as freedom-filled as prep time at a job, but it's no less important. No less meaningful.

I scribbled in my journal, as I read about Anna, God prepares people for encounters with Him. To be prepared means a reaction of praise, thanksgiving and blessing when God is revealed. What if my job RIGHT NOW is to prepare my heart for something later?

In truth, we're always in a season of preparation. Some might be fun, leisurely and relaxing, and some might be hard to breathe through - but we're always in one. He doesn't waste a thing. Praying during this season - and always - that my heart is in tune with His as He prepares me for the task at hand and the next assignment.