I was once invited to teach a class at the Institute for Pastoral and Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The classes were held in several sessions throughout the day, starting at 8 AM and ending at 3 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This particular class was on a Saturday in November, during the weeks when the change of seasons becomes more noticeable. The weather gets colder, and warm days become increasingly rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Friday before the class, I was feeling quite stressed because not only did I have to finish preparing my lesson, but I also had to deal with the unexpected news that I couldn’t find anyone to watch my daughters. So, I wanted to finish preparing my class, but I also needed to prepare to take them with me and pack everything they would need to be comfortable and entertained while I was busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since they were still very young, and the place where I was going was quite far away, we even brought the dog along. It was a somewhat complicated decision, but leaving the dog alone all day wasn’t an option at that time because of his young age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city I had to go to was about a two-hour drive away, and I had to be there by eight o’clock in the morning. For me, that meant I had to leave before 6 AM with my daughters and the dog in the car. Anyone who has traveled with young children knows that leaving “on time” is a huge challenge. For that reason, I started preparing as soon as I knew they would be coming with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just thinking about everything I had to prepare for, was already stressing me out. Anyway… I did the best I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, I had another surprise: the day dawned with dense fog and rain. I tried to leave “on time,” and even so, I left 15 minutes later than I wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The further I drove, the more intense the rain and fog became, along with the pressure I was feeling. I intended to arrive on time, but that possibility seemed to be slipping away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My preparations did help. But I couldn’t have predicted how things would turn out. And you, have you ever needed to prepare for a journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did that go for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Scripture, we are told that we are called to prepare the way of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you, how do you prepare that way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my case, I tried to prepare as best I could for the journey to the class location. And I had to navigate last-minute changes. Would I have liked it to be different? Of course! But it wasn’t…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has been your experience when you’ve needed to prepare for a journey? Do you plan everything in detail, or do you do it at the last minute?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the Carpenter your approach to preparing for a journey. And perhaps you’ll discover that you could do something differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marisol<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P.S.: We can hear about preparing the way in the readings for the second Sunday of Advent, Year\/Cycle A.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was once invited to teach a class at the Institute for Pastoral and Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The classes were held in several sessions throughout the day, starting at 8 AM and ending at 3 PM. This particular class was on a Saturday in November, during the weeks when the change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-2-2"],"yoast_head":"\n