Unless you have been hiding under a rock or just dropped in from Krypton, you most certainly have heard all of the hoopla about the bouncing bundle of British joy! The headlines, TV magazine shows, and news services have had all kind of spins on the blessed event.  Heck, his arrival was a significant boost to the British economy with celebrations abounding and souvenirs being bought.

On July 22, 2013, Prince William and Duchess Kate became the proud parents of a baby boy (hint – they were dressed in blue), with the newest little monarch-in-waiting being named His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge.  Say his title three times quickly in your best Peter-Piper-picked-a peck-of-pickled-peppers monologue without tying your tongue. He will one day be known as King George VII.

The royal line of succession – formal talk for the “royal batting order”, breaks down like this.

We have great-Grandma, Queen Elizabeth II, followed by Gramps, Prince Charles of Wales (Who wants to take a bet on whether he will be changing any diapers?), and the key man in his life, his father, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.  After that comes “The Kid”!

I was going to suggest to those of you reading this, perhaps we should pitch in together to get little George a baby gift.  We can head off to Wal-Mart™ to get some wipes, bottles, diapers, and an outfit or two.  If finances are tight in your budget, maybe a coupon for free babysitting will suffice.

However, after hearing some of the figures being tossed around about his net worth, “Junior” most likely can purchase the communities in which we live, the dwellings therein, throw a summer barbeque for us all to celebrate his arrival – and still have a few bucks left for some formula or a yacht or something.  Let’s bag the gift idea!

I do not mean to be morbid, but I started to think about this future king stuff coming at us rapid fire.   Queen Elizabeth ain’t a spring chicken.  I don’t want to come across as setting her out to pasture, but odds are against another 10 or 15 years on the throne.  When that occurs, little George moves up a notch with only his diaper changing Grandpa, Prince Charles, and his Dad ahead of him in the pecking order, assuming he weathers the sleepless nights.

Let’s further suppose one of these asteroids we keep hearing about somehow has a beat on Buckingham Palace (or any of the other palatial residences where they hang out) and Charles and William get nailed during Tea Time.

That would mean it’s Georgie’s turn to bat!  He is only a few days old and is still attempting to get his sleeping, eating, and poo-ing habits in some sort of predictable (I use that word loosely) sequence – let alone have time to meet the rest of the royal relatives.

In my view, it comes down to a word – PREPARATION.  I have a few doctor friends.  One day they may have proclaimed, “I want to be a doctor” – all fine and well.  However, stating so did no necessarily give then the training needed to do doctor stuff.  They had a time of process to go through.  They studied hard in their early school years, had some form of interest in what they wanted to be when they grew up, made a decision to work hard and pursue the path, and then spent a lot more years in school and residencies, not to mention lots of money, to become a doctor.  They earned the right of passage.

If the unspeakable would occur today and little George would move to first place, he would not be ready.  He has to undergo, you guessed it, PREPARATION.  I am sure it will all work out when the time comes.  If he can survive the media blitz he will be OK.

The Bible indicates of Jesus, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman…” (Gal: 4-4), too was born a King into this world.  He too, had PREPARATION time before he could fulfill His purpose on this Earth and in our lives.

Are we any different?

Some of us seem to fly through life with minimal cares or concerns as we walk the path of becoming who we are called to be.

Others have a much harder road to hoe, sometimes enduring all kinds of trials, setbacks, and adversities.  They use the experience of those adversities to welcome the seed of an equal or greater opportunity in becoming the best version of who they were meant to be.

Still others fall in the middle of the two bookends mentioned above on their quest for purpose.

What about you?  What PREPARATION times have you had on the road to becoming you?