Life in Limbo

Last Thursday, our seven week old daughter become inconsolable, very hot, and we could not get her calm for about an hour. After texting our pediatrician and calling the after hours nurse, we were told to head to a pediatric ER that was about an hour away. While waiting on my mom to show up to sit with our other daughter, the fever went down.

During that time, my wife and I were running around and packing bags and grabbing things we might need if we were admitted to the hospital. We didn’t end up going because we thought the fever had broken. The next day (Friday) at about 3 in the afternoon, my wife called me at work and told me the fever was back and that we had to go.

We spent the evening in the ER. I had thankfully not unpacked my bag, but my wife had to repack hers. After about six hours, we were released to go home and were told that if if her fever hit a certain number, we had to come straight back and we’d be admitted.

We spent the rest of the weekend with our bags packed by the door, frequently checking temperature, and praying we wouldn’t end up in the hospital for several days. As I write this, we’re still not out of the woods. The bags are still packed by the door and we’re still in limbo (I had to take my laptop out of my backpack to type this actually).

Several hard things that have recently occurred in my life have reminded me that, as Christians, our whole lives are supposed to be lived in limbo. This isn’t the life we’re living for. This isn’t home. We’re supposed to be a little uncomfortable and be ready to go at any time. Our bags are supposed to be packed and we’re supposed to be encouraging others to pack theirs and be ready to go.

Too often we don’t live this way. Our bags aren’t packed. We’re living comfortably in our house and seeking to build vacation homes in other locations. We live like this is our permanent residence instead of thinking we could be transferred at any time.

Christ came and lived and had no place to lay His head. He knew His time was short and His kingdom was not of this world. He came to save sinners and make missionaries (even if that’s in your own town). We’re to follow His example. We may have somewhere to literally lay our head, but we’re not supposed to be too comfortable. We’re living for a different kingdom. We should be living in limbo.