Preparation

I am busy today getting ready for a women’s retreat for my parish. It is the first one that we are having for ACTS which stands for Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. I’ve been preparing for this weekend for almost three years now. I’ve been mentored by a group of women that have been giving these retreats for many years. It has been an awesome experience to know and learn from these women. It has been an awesome experience of growth for me to allow myself to change through the lives and experiences of these women. It has been a great time of preparation for this moment.


What makes preparation so wonderful is it allows me to change through the experience. It allows me to use the gifts that I already know that I have and the gifts that I learn about through my interaction with other people. I challenge myself in preparation, because I encounter people I haven’t experienced before as I plan for the events in my life. The planning is at its best for me when I don’t over plan, but when I allow the people around me to shine and take ownership of the gifts that they give to the world.

How do I tap into the gifts of the other people around me and into the best of the gifts that God has given me is the ultimate challenge of my life. I so many times hide behind the talents that are expected of me rather than the true gifts that God has given me. I sometimes look to other people to define those gifts rather than praying to understand the unique gifts that have been bestowed on me by God.

The gifts given to me are many and are as diverse as being good at finance and as being good at singing in the choir. Now I wonder what those gifts have in common. The most obvious is that both were given to me, but I think there is more to it than that simple connection. My next thought is that I needed the diversity of gifts to allow myself to be more human. If I am caught up mostly in math and not in art, I wouldn’t be complete. That is not to say that one can’t be better at one than the other, but I think if I wasn’t aware of the diversity of my gifts then I wouldn’t be the person I am meant to be.

Wow, preparation is awesome. It makes me tap into the not so obvious of my life. I’d forgotten some things about myself that only truly shine when I allow myself to prepare.

Peace and talk to you again soon,

Eileen