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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me deal with unexpected events in a calm way, and always pray about them! Amen.

John the Baptist baptized many people in the Jordan River. He told them, "I'm baptizing you with water; but, when Jesus comes, He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit - so be ready for Him!"

Unexpected things happen in everyone's life, adults or kids. You're goofing around the first time it snows and you fall and break your arm; your grandmother gets cranky about something and says she's not spending Christmas with you; you end up with a whole weekend with nothing to do and have to figure out how to spend your time.

So many unexpected things happen that it sometimes seems silly to think you know what's coming up!

This week's Gospel (Matthew 3:1-12) is about unexpected events - and, in a way, about preparing for them. As we get ready for Christmas, the Gospel story is about getting ready for Jesus in another way: John the Baptist baptizing people just before Jesus started teaching about God in public.

Jesus' coming wasn't a surprise, since John told people about it - but it also was a surprise, since a lot of people didn't understand and weren't ready to listen to what Jesus had to say yet.

Some unexpected things are like that: You don't see them coming, but the warning signs are there. If you're being too crazy out in the snow, you could get hurt; if you make plans with someone who often cancels, you could end up with no plans.

John knew that God sending Jesus into the world as a person was unexpected, so he tried to prepare people. You can prepare for the unexpected by paying attention to warning signs and by taking surprises calmly, realizing it's OK that you don't always know what's coming up.

Most importantly, include God in your thoughts. It's important to pray about dealing with the unexpected - and it's what John wanted people to do as they got ready to hear from Jesus! [[In-content Ad]]

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