Have you ever driven past a beautiful place, like the Biltmore mansion, but not been inside? You don’t really know what it looks like because of that. I’m bringing you along with us on Sabbatical so you can see for yourself what it looks like.
We’ve not hurried anything in the mornings. Getting up without an alarm is a treat. Time in the Word and prayer is lingered over like a gourmet meal. It’s the richest time of the day.
Each day we’ve ventured out a little, but stayed pretty close to home. Here was one beautiful adventure:
We drove up to Roan Mt. near us to purchase fresh SC peaches and to go to a favorite lake for the afternoon. We read, talked, and rested.This is the shelter at the lake. Everywhere you turn there is beauty. The quiet at the lake was as welcomed as the beauty. It was the perfect place to really listen to the Lord’s voice.
I “just happened” to pick up a book by Elizabeth George – Quiet Confidence for a Woman’s Heart on the clearance table a week ago. The chapter I read at the lake just happened to be on Psalm 23:2 – He leads me beside the still waters. Where was I reading it? At this beautiful lake. How good is my God?
This book has been a sweet refreshment as she takes us into the life of the Shepherd and His sheep through the means of Psalm 23.
Time to read. Slow down. Pray. Journal. Rest. Talk. All inside the Sabbatical.
Hi Friends! I am writing a little post to say we’re having a great first week while doing this thing they call resting. It’s a foreign word to most ministry families. Days are typically long and full, weekends longer and even fuller, but the joy runs higher than them all. However, there comes a time when everyone (and I mean everyone – even the folks in the pews) need to stop and rest.
We feel so very loved by our church that they would notice our fatigue and desire to do something to refresh us, something that is so unknown to our circles, like sabbaticals are. Have you wondered what we’re doing? What a sabbatical looks like close up? Let me give you a peek.
My sister sent a text yesterday that said,
Praying that this sabbatical will be a refreshing and restful time for you!
I answered,
It’s been a huge blessing already!
Then her reply –
That’s saying something for only 2 days!
I thought much about that last statement. Was I jumping the gun? No. When you are under pressure and the pressure is released, you notice it immediately. Let me illustrate –
On Monday, the first day of Sabbatical, I went to a previously scheduled dentist appointment (horrible timing, right?!). It was just for a cleaning, so it wasn’t too bad. However, when the hygienist got to the bottom front teeth where I typically have a tough time keeping free from plaque build-up, she began her chiseling cleaning. Pressure! I definitely noticed when she completed her task and stopped the pressure on my teeth! So, too, with our responsibilities lifted for these 31 days, the pressure is released, and it is a huge blessing!
Here are a some pictures of how we’ve spent our days:
Home is our favorite place to rest – specifically on the back porch. It’s quiet, peaceful, beautiful and secluded.
Uninterrupted Quiet time has been a blessing – reading Scripture and praying has been a rich. My kitty, Liza just happens to love to pray with me. When she hears me (I pray out loud), she comes and stays near.
There are specific words that the Lord has given each day this week. Not prophetic kinds of words, but labels. The first was:
Rest.
The second was
Still waters.
I’m marking these words in a journal, careful to seek God’s face and hear His heart for these days inside the Sabbatical.
This post will be continued tomorrow. I’ll have pictures of a couple places we’ve been. I hope you’ll check back in!
When I was raising my girls, I was always seeking ways to bring the Scripture into their daily lives. I wanted them to see for themselves how applicational the Word of God is to everything we experience. One tool that I used to accomplish that was kind of a “cheat sheet” of Bible verses. The verses touched on sins that needed to be addressed when they happened – disobedience, lying, rebellion, etc. I also tried to look for examples in the Bible to help the girls understand how to handle problems.
Recently, I was reading a passage in Numbers 12 that I wished I had shared when the girls were young and at each other’s throats fussing. This is when Miriam and Aaron spoke out against their brother, Moses. They basically snubbed their noses at the fact that he was the one in charge and they were not! It never tells us that Moses raked them…
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.
You put on your new blue blouse, which happens to accentuate your blue eyes, and all day long you hear, “That color looks so good on you!” Or you find a dress that fits you perfectly and step out from the dressing room and your teen daughter says, “Oh Mom! That dress looks like it was made for you; that looks so good on you!”
We love it when we find that “just-right look,” don’t we? I have something for you to wear that will look perfect on you – as a matter of fact, I have God’s Word on it!
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Psalm 33:1
To be “comely” means attractive. This verse is telling us that praise looks good on a believer of Jesus Christ! I’ve made plenty of bad fashion choices in my lifetime, but when I use my mouth to praise the Lord, I’ve put on a perfectly beautiful accessory that will always look good!
How have you used your words today? Are they negative, complaints, whining or sarcastic? That doesn’t suit you, if you know Christ. Run to the dressing room of prayer, ask for forgiveness, then use your mouth to praise the Lord for Who He is and what He is doing in your life. That will look really good on you!
RefreshHer 