Some of the most beautiful gifts I’ve ever been given, have
been sabbaticals. I had one in 1997 from my previous church-right after I got
married. Then you folks gave me another shortly after we adopted our third son
in 2015. It was then that the rhythm of, after every 7 years of
pastoring, a sabbatical would be given. What is a sabbatical? As the
name implies it’s a sabbath rest for an extended period of time. Time is thee
most precious gift a person can get. So for my gift of time (April 25-July 25)
I will be released from my pastoral duties and do other things I’ve been
wanting to do, and even for this season of life, needing to do.
I’ll begin the time (April 25- April 29 ) by going to the
Billy Graham Retreat Center. This is a powerful place of equipping as I’ll be
under the teaching of Jim Cymbala and Ron Hutchcraft. Those guys are both
famous enough that you could Google them and know more than I can to tell you
here. Let’s just say they are legends I get to learn from in a beautiful place.
Then (May 1-May 7) Rebecca and I will spend some time out of
the country to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We both love to
travel and so this will be a good time to reflect on our marriage and the great
adventure it’s been for a quarter of a century!
Around the second week of May I’ll be back in Ohio to do
what I call my “catch up” time. Pastoring is constant, in that there is always
something to do-sermons to preach, articles and reports to write, people to
visit, conflicts to manage and on and on. So I never seem to have the time to
take a hard look at revising some of my tools.
My baptism/membership process, our pre-marriage counseling,
the sign sermon roster, winter bible intensive plans, ultimate frisbee handbook
to name a few need a refresher-if not a completely revamped. My home and office
files, book shelves and computers all need reorganized and cleaned up.
I have also wanted to connect with a counselor at
Springhaven to do some emotional clean up as well. I need to spend time
processing the 30 years of ministry I’ve been in and deal with issues I have
been putting on the back burner. This takes time and energy and I’m hoping this
time will allow that.
From May 26 to June 6 our whole family, Lord willing will be
out of the country for what could be our last family vacation together. Our
boys are growing up fast and we see this next year as a time of change. Many of
you know the transitions that happens when kids turn adults and there is no
going back. Our hope is to make some memories that will last the rest of our
lives-one more time.
On June 7, or whenever we get back to Ohio I hope to begin
something I’ve never done but always wanted to: a 40 day fast. Don’t worry I’ll
talk to my Dr. but even he believes fasting is good for me-we’ve just never
talked about 40 days. I know there is great spiritual benefit to any length of
fasting so I will explore this adventure till July 17.
During that time (June 15-24) Rebecca and I will also return
to a Pastor’s retreat in FL called Beside Still Waters. I went there last
Sabbatical and it’s another place far away from home to just be with God in an
environment that is simply beautiful by the water.
From roughly June 25-July 26 I’ll be in Ohio continuing my
catch up time. This will also include visiting other churches and
reading/critiquing the rest of the NIV 2011 which I’ve already begun. So at a glance here’s the scoop:
April
25- April 29 Billy
Graham Retreat Center -North Carolina
May 1-May 7 25th Anniversary -out of the country
May 8-25
Ohio -catch up time
May 26-June 6 Family
vacation -out of the country
June 7-July 17 40
Day Fast
June 7-14
Ohio -more catch up time
June 15-24
Beside Still Waters -Florida
June 24-July 25 Ohio -last
catch up time
I can’t express what a great and generous gift this is to me
and my family-but to say thank you and pray for us! I look forward to sharing
with you all the Lord wants to teach me over this time.
PS. People have already asked me “what are we going to do
with out you?” and the answer is everything you do now! I have an excellent
roster of preachers to fill the pulpit while I’m gone. Justin and the elders
will be available to cover other pastoral duties and care. In the event of a
funeral, I have other pastors on call that will help Justin make this happen if
need be. In the case of the death of a child, or multiple deaths at the same
time, unless I’m out of the country, I would come back ASAP. I’m praying (and
you should too) that we never need to face such crisis-ever!
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