Know Someone Sick? Make Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity!

Do you know someone who is sick that could use a meal dropped at the door? 

We've known a number of people over the past few months who fit this description, some who - Praise God! - have already begun healing and others who are very much in need of prayers.

Thus, I've had my children helping me to wash and chop vegetables and cook up chilis, soups, stews, and other dishes to share.

Among them was an Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity that we came up with after looking at a bunch of recipes online and seeing what was available between rummaging our fridge and cupboards and making a run to a local store. The result, I thought, was delicious. So, in honor of it being National Soup Month - and as inspiration for you to gift forward a meal to someone you know in need - I am sharing the recipe below and also as a free printable.

I will warn you that this recipe has a lot more ingredients than many others do and is a bit labor-intensive with all the washing, peeling, and chopping of vegetables. So, it definitely makes a good Sunday service / Work of Mercy project rather than a quick weeknight help. That said, it is chock full of nutrition and wonderfully tasty, so don't let the long list of ingredients and extra prep time scare you away from it.

Further, I want to suggest that, if you are short on time, you simply whip up you favorite easy soup recipe, because most soups make a wonderfully nutritious, warming, and flexible meal to share.

If brought over hot, soups can be enjoyed right away.

If the recipient is not up to eating or has been gifted ample food by others, soups can be refrigerated or frozen, then, portioned out and reheated easily on stovetop or in a microwave. 

Most soups are forgiving, too. So you can add and drop ingredients according to availability, taste, food intolerances/allergies, etc.

Oh, and speaking of intolerances and allergies, I often ask about those before making meals to door-drop, and, if I don't have a chance to do so, I typically will avoid ingredients that tend to be common allergens. So, for example, in the soup below, I would not add the corn. (In fact, in one of the batches we made, we purposefully left out the corn due to the family allergies.)

Similarly, because some folks are vegetarian or vegan, unless I know everyone in a family is a meater, I tend to make vegan options that meat and/or dairy can be added to. (So, for example, I cooked chicken, onion, and herbs separately when cooking up our 10-Vegetable soup and, then, packaged it in another container and wrote a note that suggested that family meat-lovers might like to add the chicken to the soup or eat it on its own.)

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Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity!

Veggies:

1 yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced 

2 celery, sliced 

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded, diced 

4 garlic cloves, minced

Spices:

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon rosemary or marjoram

1 tablespoon basil

1 ½ teaspoons white pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon thyme (or a bay leaf or two)

Other ingredients:

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

4 15-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes (or 2 28-ounce cans)

4 cups water (or veggie broth or chicken stock) 

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons liquid amino acids (or low sodium soy sauce)

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups frozen corn or 15-ounce can frozen fire roasted corn (optional)

1 cup frozen green peas 

Up to 3 cups fresh spinach, sliced (or a small package of frozen spinach)

Add in before serving, if desired:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 

chicken (pre-cooked with garlic, onions, and fresh oregano or just canned chicken)

Directions:

Put a very large pot on medium high heat and add just enough water or broth to cover the bottom. Heat until it starts to steam, then add the veggies.

Sweat/water saute the vegetables until they have softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add all the spices except the thyme or bay leaves to the pot and stir constantly for 30 seconds to activate the spices.

Add the tomato paste, cook for 4 to 5 minutes, and keep stirring until the paste begins to darken and starts to caramelize.

Add 1/2 cup of water or broth/stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to scrape off any flavorful bits that are stuck to the bottom.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach, lime juice, and optional chicken. Stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil, which should take about 10 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to medium low, add the optional chicken in, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Uncover the soup and add spinach if you like more al dente veggies and call it done. Or simmer for another 45 minutes for softer veggies and, then, add spinach. Let the spinach wilt for a minute while continuing to stir.

Taste the soup and adjust any spices if needed, or add salt to your taste. Add lime, if desired, and enjoy!

Notes:

You can add any other meat, bean, or lentil that you like and/or “stretch” the soup by adding up to four more cups of broth or water.

You can also add up to 2 tablespoons chia seeds for a bit of protein and to gel-up the soup some.

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Whether making this soup or not, I encourage you to cook up your favorite soup and bless someone forward with it this week! It would be a lovely way to live a Work of Mercy.

Pray Unceasingly with a Cemetery Prayer Peg

"Pray without ceasing," St. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

In an effort to do just this, I began establishing "prayer pegs" with my children years ago as a way of building "Holy Habits" that flow naturally, seamlessly, and rhythmically within our day-to-day lives.

What's a Prayer Peg?

Just as one can peg laundry to a line - simply, without great ado, and yet with purposeful intent - one can attach blessing, praise, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession to specific daily activities in order to form intentional habits of unceasing prayer.

This, in essence, is what I call "prayer pegs".

A prayer peg is simply an act of praying a distinct form of prayer in connection with a particular regular activity.

A Prayer Peg for When We Pass a Cemetery

One prayer peg that my family has established is to pause all conversation and thought when passing a cemetery so that we can pray:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace through your mercy. Amen.

Upon concluding this prayer, we sometimes add specific intentions for our own beloved dead or for the dearly departed of our friends. While, at other times, we simply return to whatever we were saying, thinking, or doing before we noticed we were passing a cemetery.

Either way, because we live around the corner from one cemetery and pass many others during our day-to-day travels, our purposeful prayer peg encourages us to regularly raise our minds and hearts to God while living out part of the seventh Spiritual Work of Mercy: praying for the dead.

Often multiple times within a single day, whether walking or driving, one of us will note a cemetery and deliberately begin to pray. Then, the rest of us will join in.

Praying when passing a cemetery has become a holy habit for our family that was easy to establish and continues to help us to respond to St. Paul's exhortation to pray without ceasing.

Do you pray a specific prayer when passing a cemetery? What prayer pegs work for you and yours at other times during your days?

8 Picture Books to Inspire Advent Service and Traditions

Happy second week of Advent!

If you enjoy seasonal picture books as much as we do, please enjoy coming along on a look back of our first week of Works of Mercy Wise Men adventures from the first week of Advent.

As is our tradition here, we've been journeying along through Advent with our Works of Mercy Wisemen getting into picture books and reminding us each day of ways we might prepare our hearts and homes for Jesus, sometimes through choosing Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy to act upon and sometimes by living our own family traditions. 

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them to make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

On the first day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop our copy of  If He Had not Come.  They had some purple markers and papers with them there at our Happy New Liturgical year breakfast table. Thus, we decided that they were hinting that we might each reflect upon our own shortcomings, think of ways we might improve ourselves in the new liturgical year, and write a commitment down.  So, we did!

On the second day of Advent, our Wise Men were rifling through our box of Jesse Tree ornaments and looking at a page in Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree. 

We decided that they were reminding us that, due to snafus the day before, we had never picked out a branch in the woods to set up as our Jesse Tree and, therefore, had not been hanging our ornaments and praying for those that made them for us.  So, after lessons and work, we made time to go find a branch just before dark.

On the third and fourth days of Advent, some crazy life happenings took over and an overnight at Grammy and Grampy's happened, so our Wise Men opted to get into our keys instead of a book, reminding us to pray for the living and the dead as we took care of commitments and quelled the rising chaos of life.

On the fifth day of Advent, it was St. Nicholas' feast day, and the children awoke to two new books and a CD set for our home library along with some small treats in their shoes.

Excited by the new books, our Wise Men decided to make up for missing the third and fourth days of Advent, and, so,split up to draw our attention to three different things.

One brought the star we always put above one of our nativity sets right up to our new copy of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, a favorite book we used to take out of the library every year and now happily own.

My children quickly decided that Wise Man was hinting that we should make time to unwrap each of our nativity sets and to put pieces of them up around the house as a way to prepare our home for Christmas.

Another Wise Man held a Jesse Tree ornament and was looking at a copy of Jesse Tree, another book we have taken out of the library for years and now own a copy of.  

We decided this Wise Man was reminding us that we needed to catch up on reading Scripture, putting up Jesse Tree ornaments, and praying for those who made them.  So, we did.

We also went through all the Advent Chain strips we've taken down so far this Advent and put hung the ones we have acted upon on our Jesse Tree while putting the couple that we have yet to accomplish on our table as a reminder.

The final Wise Man sat atop a pile of Saint Nicholas books, including The Legend of Saint Nicholas, a different The Legend of Saint Nicholas, and Saint Nicholas.

He was surrounded by oranges, cheese, bread, paper, and scissors, so my children immediately knew that we were to make paper snowflakes and a basket to secretly gift a neighbor as have every St. Nicholas day since the year we organized a St. Nicholas playdate where we introduced this tradition.

On the sixth day of Advent, I neglected to take a picture of our Wise Men vignette. However, since the Wise Men were standing atop a copy of The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood and lugging an empty canvas shopping bag, my children decided this meant we were supposed to find clothing, shoes, or other items we no longer need to pass along to someone who could use them. 

 So, we set a timer for fifteen minutes and filled the bag as quickly as we could. Then, we immediately took a photo of what was inside the bag and posted it in several groups online to see if anyone wanted any or all of the things we'd collected.

On the seventh day of Advent, our Wise Men sat atop an image of the nativity from the beautiful The First Christmas book.  Because it was also our oldest's birthday, we knew the Wise Men were telling us to pray extra for him and to celebrate his birth.

And that brings us to today - the eighth day of Advent.

This morning the Wise Men sat among Giving Tree tags, gifts to give, and "Why We Give Gifts at Christmas" in A Child's Book of Christmas. 

The children knew it was the day we give gifts to our church's Giving Tree program for the children whose tags they'd picked off the tree the week before Advent.  They always enjoy doing this.

And, I always enjoy the pause we take (almost) daily during Advent to quiet ourselves for picture book read alouds, chatting, and deciding what Work of Mercy, virtue, or tradition we might act upon.

Our Works of Mercy Wise Men has become a beloved anchor of Advent for us as we revisit favorite picture books, read new ones, and spend time together preparing hearts and homes for Jesus.

If you'd like to read about our other Works of Mercy Wise Men ideas, please click through the images below to find some of our some past ideas.

More ideas!

May your second week of Advent be filled with service and special moments as you prepare yourself to encounter Jesus - past, present, and future - and rejoice that the Lord is near!

How We Connect Wise Men, Acts of Kindness, and Reflection

Rejoice!  It is Guadete and Bambinelli Sunday.  In just one week, the joyful anticipation of this Advent season will make way for the celebration of Christ's coming!

The Lord, indeed, is near, and, thus, our call to use our hearts, heads, and hands to prepare to encounter Christ continues.  Of course, partaking in the sacraments is one of the best ways to do so.  Thus, my family as enjoyed extra time at Mass, Reconciliation, and Adoration over the past week, thanks, in part, to a wonderful Advent Mission our parish collaborative offered.

Another way my family seeks to keep God central in our lives is to consciously share acts of love and service with the help of our ever-simplified Works of Mercy Wise Men tradition. In case you, too, would like to connect acts of kindness, with seasonal stories, then, I thought I'd share more of what our Works of Mercy Wise Men have inspired us to partake in this past week.

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them to make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

Between last Sunday and Monday, we managed to lose one of the Wise Men from our Tales of Glory Nativity Playset as they continued to get into stories, sometimes with other items nearby. That has not stopped us from chatting about stories and deciding what Work of Mercy or virtue we might work on for a given day.

On the ninth day of Advent, the children found our Wise Men atop Mt. Laundry with Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect.  After chatting, we decided the message for our day was to accept imperfections and to seek to help others in whatever ways we could so that we might see "the love of Christ expressed on earth" in one another, remembering that "living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful on the eyes of God" (quotes from the story.) Part of our effort to live this mission for the day was to lend a hand and patience to one another getting through chores (like the laundry!) and lessons.

We also gave each other - including Mom and Dad - "assignments", such as "not going on and on", "focusing when it is time to focus,", "being kind and self-controlled even when tired,", "not arguing,", "sharing smiles not scowls."

Finally, we looked for opportunities to serve in simple ways - happily sharing time with a student and friend when her parent was late picking her up after a class, stopping by someone's house to make sure he had been able to get out for groceries despite recent snow and rain, that sort of thing.

As we reflected on the day, we continued to ponder the question:  How might we live for the sake of others this Advent and always?

The tenth day of Advent was also a significant feast day - that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, so our Wise Men greeted us near a small bag of items to donate at My Brother's Keeper, a bunch of feast day reading, watching, and listening, and a lovely book called The Three Gifts of Christmas which reminds us of the truth: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  With this in mind, we headed off to volunteer for the day.

As a family, we read the wish lists of different needy families...

... "shopped" for gifts that we thought would bless the families...

... and thoroughly enjoyed spending many happy hours serving at Santa's Workshop at My Brother's Keeper, a FABULOUS organization that we highly recommend supporting and/or volunteering for! 

Later on, the children and I also made time to visit an elderly gentleman who lives nearby to us before going to participate in a lovely Advent mission Mass and collation.

As the day closed, our hearts remained full and happy and we reflected: How might we continue to offer time, talent, treasure and prayers this Advent?

The eleventh day of Advent was also St. Lucia's feast day. Since Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints book with a St. Lucy story was till in the minivan where I had placed it the day before so we could read the preceding Our Lady of Guadalupe story during a down moment between events, our Wise Men instead found themselves with our straw "manger", "straw", a book called Marta and the Manger Straw, along with slips of paper that had each of our family member's names on them.

The connection?  St. Lucia is patron to the blind and legend has it that she delivered wheat and bread to the poor and homebound as well as to Christians staying in the catacombs. She did the latter under cover of darkness of night to avoid detection and so would carry a lamp or wear a crown of candles to light her way while freeing her hands to carry supplies. Since her name means "light", in honor of her feast day, our Wise Men and the book "Marta and the Manger Straw reminded us to make sacrifices to be the light of Christ to others. They also reminded us it was time to pick our family Christkindl, by secretly drawing slips of paper with one another's names on them to discover who we'll take under special care for the rest of the season, doing extra kindnesses for. 

Of course, after that, much of the day involved finding opportunities to extend such kindnesses, and as the day ended, we reflected: How might we continue to light the way for others, sharing Christ's love?

The twelfth day of Advent was Saint John of the Cross' feast day, so one Wise Man was found reading the "Saint John of the Cross" page of Saints Lives & Illuminations while another read The Small One.  Upon reading these stories, our thoughts went to how St. John of the Cross endured such hardships, yet maintained his faith and became a Doctor of the Church. We also chatted about how the boy in The Small One protected his donkey by ensuring he was placed with kind owners even when the boy was forced to sell him.  We decided our mission for the day would be to endure our own hardships with strength, and to, perhaps, get together some things we no longer needed to gift forward to good homes. 

We never got to the latter part of our goal as the morning found us enduring a long drive through snow to get to a commitment and, by the time we were headed home from our day, my youngest - who had been enduring signs of what we all thought was just tiredness - began indicated he was suddenly feeling quite unwell.  Poor little guy!  Luckily, his siblings stepped right up to bat with helping to care for the sick, and, so the night proved one of extended kindness and love even if no excess was sorted through to gift forward.

As we went to bed that night, we reflected:  How can we adapt our plans to whatever comes up, finding ways to extend love and live with faith in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in?

On the thirteenth day of Advent, snow still covered our yard, so the Wise Men got into our birdseed bin with a new to use book called The Message of the Birds.  Obviously, they were telling us to go out to feed our feathered friends, which we did.  The book also reminded us of the Christ child and of the need for peace in the world.

That concept of peace took a twist in our home as another child came down with a bug and stayed cheerful even if not feeling well at all while the rest of us took turns nursing and letting her rest.  Yes, sometimes, the Works of Mercy we are called to are simple ones in our own home - taking care of those close to us.

As we closed the day, our reflection became:  How might we act and react to the people and situations around us each day to share the love of Christ and promote peace?

On this, the fourteenth day of Advent, everyone in our home was again feeling healthy again - praise God - and we knew it was Guadete ("Rejoice!) Sunday - the Sunday that marks how we are to celebrating our Lord's coming, Bambinelli Sunday - the Sunday when Baby Jesus figurines are blessed, and also our family's personal "Tree Sunday" - the Sunday our family traditionally picks out a Christmas tree.  So, one Wise Man was found with Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing and another was found with The Pine Tree Parable. Nearby were wrapped Baby Jesus figurines from our nativity sets.  Thus, we brought our Baby Jesus' to church and, after Mass, asked the visiting priest who presided to bless them. (And what a beautiful blessing spontaneous blessing he offered!)  Then, later, we went to pick out our tree, which we will decorate on the 24th - holding off on "Christmas" as long as we can so as to honor the season of Advent.

We also noted how in both Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing and the The Pine Tree Parable, characters give away items that are important to them, recognizing the beauty of bringing joy to others.  Thus, we aimed to share joy with one another on this Holy Day and took time to name parts of the day we had been blessed by as well as examples of when we saw others shining with the light of Christ's love.

As we go to bed tonight, we will reflect: Our Lord is near and His love is everywhere.  When we choose, we can extend Christ's love to one another?  How might we do that in big ways and in small as Advent continues and even after that?

Undoubtedly, as Advent winds down this week, my children and I will continue to read books that inspire acts of kindness and reflective moments.  We also would love to find new seasonal stories to carry us through Christmastide.  We'd love to hear what your favorites are!

If you'd like to read about our other Works of Mercy Wise Men ideas, please click through the images below to find some of our some past ideas.

May your final week of Advent be filled with service and special moments as you prepare yourself to encounter Jesus - past, present, and future - and rejoice that the Lord is near!

Inspire Children to Serve with Picture Books {A Works of Mercy Wise Men Tradition}

Happy second week of Advent. 

Three years ago, I shared an idea for marrying picture books, magi figurines, and service to create a new family tradition. 

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them to make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

Since then, our "Works of Mercy Wisemen" tradition has continued.  Daily during Advent, my children find the Wise Men from our Tales of Glory Nativity Playset getting into stories, sometimes with other items nearby.  After the children discover a Wise Men vignette each day, we chat about the story and what Work of Mercy or virtue the Wise Men might be suggesting we work on that day.  

So far this year, our vignettes have been quite simple and our acts of service and kindness, too.  Still, the tradition has brought fruit and focus to living our Advent journey with eyes toward encountering Jesus.

Pair 8+ Books with Works of Mercy

On the first day of Advent our Wise Men were found among three books: Bartholomew's Passage, The Christmas Story, and If He Had not Come.   Minutes later, the Wise Men "whispered" in ears about how we could actively prepare our hearts for Our Lord through action.  

Among the ideas we came up with were:

• Praying for the Living and the Dead: Inspired by If He Had not Come, we thought about how different the world is because Jesus did come and also because of the people He's put in our lives.  We decided we will spend extra time praying for the living and the dead this Advent and, as a part of that, continued our St. Andrew Novena with special intentions for specific people.

• Preparing Ourselves to Instruct the Ignorant:  We cannot share the good news of Christ if we do not deepen our knowledge of and love for Jesus.  So, we decided to re-read The Christmas Story (which we know well) as a way of centering ourselves on the reason for the season and, then, reflected briefly on the beauty and meaning of Jesus' birth.
  
  
  
  
  
  We also went out to find a tree branch to act as our Jesse Tree and asked our Lord to speak to us through the stories and scripture that we read as we hang each of our Jesse Tree ornaments so that we can share Salvation History well with others when we are called to do so.  Further, as we gathered for our Advent Wreath time and began reading Bartholomew's Passage, we took time to reflect and pray.

• Clothing the Naked:  Additionally, we decided to take bags of our out-sized and excess mittens, gloves, and winter wear to donate for those in need.

On the second day of Advent, our Works of Mercy Wise Men were found reading the St. Nicholas page of Saints Lives & Illuminations and getting into cough drops.

Since the children knew we were to attend an early St. Nicholas Party and Service event, they decided our Wise Men were telling us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

Recalling St. Nicholas' generous spirit, we joined friend to stuff wool socks and warm gloves full of sundry daily supplies (toothbrushes toothpaste, tissues, cough drops, floss sticks, and more) to be given to homeless people in our area. The children enjoyed this small service project and I encourage others looking for a service activity to try it.

On the third day of Advent, the children found our Works of Mercy Wise Men among a bunch of laundered, but old towels, reading The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy.  After chatting, they decided we should help shelter the homeless (animals) by donating the towels to a local animal shelter.  Thus, we rearranged our morning plans to go do so. It didn't take very long, but, hopefully will bless some dogs waiting adoption.

On the fourth day of Advent, our Wise Men were getting into a bag of candy cane packages next to some bread and the St. Nicholas page of Saints Lives & Illuminations again (because I had yet to get any of the other St. Nicholas books we've read in the past out of the library again, such as: Saint Nicholas, A Gift from Saint Nicholas, The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving, The Legend of Saint Nicholas, and The Legend of Saint Nicholas.

The children quickly decided to feed the hungry, instruct the ignorant, and comfort the afflicted by making a small secret St. Nicholas Basket to drop on a neighbor's doorstep...

... and also by secretly "candy caning" people who are suffering from infirmity or limitations of advanced age as well as those who may or may not know much about Jesus.

On the fifth day of Advent, our Wise Men were stacked up to read the Saint Ambrose pages of Once Upon a Time Saints the the Loyola Kids Book of Saints (which I just saw is currently selling for 60% off hardcover!), focusing particularly on the words "something hard".

As we though about how St. Ambrose was known for doing hard things, even when surprising turns of life arose, we decided to admonish sinners in a way, by doing something "hard" for us - staying home all day and night and spending extra time focusing on responsibilities we might fail to focus on at times: lessons, extra chores, remaining patient with one another, spending extra time in prayer.

On the sixth day of Advent, our Wise Men were reading Mary, the Mother of Jesus for the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and we decided, again, to pray for the living and the dead,focusing on our usual morning, mealtime, and evening prayers, plus adding midday "emergency" prayer for a friend, and prayers for others whose intentions we brought to Holy Hour with Divine Mercy and Mass.  Further, as we thought about how Our Lady was conceived without stain of sin and how we are washed clean of sin with our Baptisms, but, then, sin again in our humanity, we gave thanks for the gift of mercy offered each of us and prayed for grace to pour down on everyone.

On the seventh day of Advent, our Wise Men were reading a board book called One Baby Jesus with a pageant script nearby.  The children agreed we should "instruct the ignorant", or, rather, prepare to share our Lord's birth story, by taking time to rehearse for our parish pageant.  We also continued to pray for the living and the dead by praying with our local Children's Rosary group.

Today, on the eighth day of Advent, our Wise Men sat with some gifts for our parish Giving Tree and the book The Christmas Coat.  Thus, the children knew it was time to clothe the naked again by donating items for children in need.

As Advent continues over the next two weeks, my children and I look forward to our Wise Men encouraging us to revisit other favorite seasonal reads and to find new ones which will inspire further Works of Mercy.  We welcome your suggestions for inspiring picture books and seasonal saint stories.  Please share your favorites with me.

If you'd like to find other picture book-service ideas, please click through the image below to find some of our some past ideas.

May your Advent be filled with service and special moments as you prepare yourself to encounter Jesus - past, present, and future.