Unplugged

It was a typical Apples of Gold morning – I was getting dressed while listening to my Bible app on my phone.  I was also receiving texts from friends who were praying for our upcoming mentoring class that would happen in a couple of hours.  Just as I was sending a message my phone STOPPED in mid-sentence.  It wouldn’t type or go back to the home screen. Then it went black.  The sickening feeling in my heart lived out to be true – my phone (less than a year old) died.

The kind Verizon rep at the store told me later that afternoon that there was some glitch in the phone and they would replace it, but my replacement wouldn’t be here until at least two or three days from now.  I became UNPLUGGED.

It’s ironic that it happened when it did, because in another area of my life, as of today, I’m becoming “unplugged.”  It’s ministry.  You see, my husband and I have been given an extraordinary gift from our church – a 31-day sabbatical!  

Sabbatical is just a period of absence.  The goal for ours is to rest, refocus and reload – those are my terms. This is what I’m praying these 31 days will accomplish in my life:

• Rest – This is pretty obvious.  We have had an exteremely busy spring and summer.  Our minds and bodies are tired.  We need to shut down and rest.  Sleep, leisure and a slower pace is our goal.
• Refocus – It’s easy to be so busy doing that you lose the sight of where you’re headed – of what you really want to accomplish and why.  I long to take a step back and consider the days ahead carefully and then make plans that support those choices.
• Reload – I need some time to fill up.  Time to pray, study and be alone with the Lord.  More than anything I’m praying this will be a spiritual retreat for us both.

That being said, I’m not really sure what my blog will look like in these 31 days.  I’m not planning on abandoning it, but maybe to just cool it a bit.  I might just write to give you a look into our sabbatical.  It might just be a picture or a quote – I’ll let the Lord dictate the content, as I do every day.

So, here we go – 31 days of being UNPLUGGED.

With love,