While imagining what it would be like to be pregnant before I was pregnant, I always thought I would have time to be prepared for pregnancy.

These were some things I wanted to do before getting pregnant:

1. I wanted to exercise regularly so that I could be fit throughout my pregnancy and be fit and strong for labour
2. I wanted to start eating folic acid and more iron rich food as I usually am low on iron (I get angular stomatitis which whenever I don't enough greens or beans)
3. I wanted to re-read the book Adventist Home and start reading the book Child Guidance
4. I wanted to have our country home ready first

I had two plans:

• When it was time for us to try for a baby, then I would start preparing.
• My backup plan was: if I couldn't prepare all of the above before my pregnancy, then I would do all during / at the start of my pregnancy.

Well, surprise, surprise, God gave us a baby early, and I never got time to prepare at all pre-pregnancy.

My next surprise was that I couldn't do much preparation during or at the start of my pregnancy.

1. I had no energy to exercise and "start" getting fit. My first trimester was mostly spent vomiting and sleeping because I was constantly tired, nauseated, and worn out.
2. All the vomiting caused me to fear that I would lack a lot of important vitamins in my first trimester.
3. I could not get through reading the books fast enough. I was torn between getting through them as quickly as I could and writing down every important thing that I wanted to do. I'm halfway through my pregnancy and nowhere close to finishing Child Guidance.
4. Being able and ready to build a house was out of our control (time wise and money wise), and it looks like my newborn would be spending some time in KL first.

When things suddenly happen to you and you find that you are unprepared, I learnt that it is not possible to prepare after it has happened. That's what the word prepare means! The preparation is done before, and if you are not prepared by then, that's it.

When things suddenly happen, it will only show how much you have prepared before.

This thought made me think about Jesus' Second Coming.

A lot of us, myself included, think that close to Jesus' Second Coming, or right before, we can quickly prepare and get ready. But, what we don't realize is that His Second Coming will be sudden and unexpected, just like my pregnancy. We have zero inclination because we will all fall asleep (like the parable of the 10 virgins).

And, it will be impossible to prepare for His Second Coming during the Second Coming (or even the Mark of the Beast) because by then, you will be like a pregnant me:

• Too physically tired
• Too worried / fearful
• Can't do it fast enough
• Some things are just not in your control

Whatever preparation we have done before then will be reflected in the "during". When things happen, it will only show how ready we are, we can no longer prepare.

What I learnt is that the word "prepare" which literally means "to make ready beforehand" has to be taken seriously - The time to prepare is now!

I just found this an interesting object lesson.