The Early preparation

They say the key to success in any endeavour is good preparation.

Going back one step, the first thing after we had the idea was to discover if we could get the time to do the walk all in one go. After ten years in the ministry I am allowed to apply to take a sabbatical break of up to three months, the question was to find out if walking the Camino was the type of thing that a sabbatical could be used for. I talked the idea over with the necessary people from the diocese who said yes it was possible but that I would need to talk to my parishes and organise some cover.

That very night one of those things happened that some would say was a coincidence or I would call a God incident or a God send. A friend, Michael phoned up, he’s a retired priest who lives locally and suggested that we meet for a coffee. We met the next day and in the course of the conversation I talked about the sabbatical and he offered to look after my parishes for the three months we were going to be away. It was an answer to prayers, even before I had time to start to pray them.

The next step was for Lesley to talk to her bosses, who thought about it and then produce a company sabbatical policy to enable her to take the time off. So Lesley has paved the way for other to follow where she has lead.