I’ve been posting a little less here because I’ve been pretty busy at work for the last few months. But, the reason that I was busy is a good one. I was tying up loose ends in preparation to be on a 6-month sabbatical from work!
For those who don’t know, I’m in full time ministry working for a Christian non-profit organization that does leadership development with college students. The organization I work for is amazing and gives its employees the gift of getting to take sabbaticals every 7 years. I’ve been working here for 12 years and am just now taking my first one! In educational settings, sabbaticals tend to be for study or travel, but for the ministry I work for it can include study or travel but for most people it’s broader than that.
The pace of life in ministry can be intense, and my organization wants people to be healthy while doing it. For us, sabbaticals are often just a gift for us to be able to pause, step back and breathe, and have a regular rhythm of extended rest to restore our souls. It’s often a time to catch up with ourselves, as we may have gotten really caught up in work over the years. And it’s simply a time to deepen our roots with God, ourself, our families, and our communities and friends.
People keep asking if I have any huge plans for my sabbatical since some people do travel or dive deep into extended study of different topics. But many people also just take the time to enjoy a slower pace of life, and that’s what I plan to do! For the last few years I’ve been working in this ministry as well as blogging in a way that’s basically full time, and for the last 2 years I’ve done that while being a new mom. My plate has been full, to say the least. I’m reallyyyyy looking forward to step back, catch up with myself and where life is at now, and go deeper in all the things I named in the last paragraph. I’m so grateful to have more breathing room in all areas of my life for the next 6 months!
I’ll continue to be around here, working on some things I haven’t had space to do before. I also hope to work on designing the interior of our house a little more and finally pull together our space. I’m making some plans to pursue different musical opportunities that I didn’t have space for in the last few years. I’m looking forward to spending slow mornings with Addie since I won’t have to rush her out the door to daycare so that I can get to a meeting. AND…oh my word, I’m going to exercise regularly again. Haha!
I’ll leave you with a pic of my family and I at a wedding last night! Fun way to start off my sabbatical. 😀
