Today is the first official day of my 3-month sabbatical. It happened to coincide with the long Thanksgiving weekend, which was good timing. Not only did it start out with a holiday break to ease into the time away, but it provided time for grateful reflection. I am so incredibly grateful – to my board, who engineered this sabbatical, to my staff, who will shoulder some extra work in my absence to make it possible, and to my sabbatical committee, who walked out the practicalities and the spiritual realities of this process with me. What a gift!
To be honest, at the beginning of this discussion, about 9 months ago or so, I was not completely thrilled with the idea of 3-months off. The idea was so filled with uncertainty that it felt a lot more scary than peaceful. I applaud my sabbatical committee for walking me through the process of planning for and preparing both myself and the ministry for this time with grace, truth, and gentle persuasion. As the time drew near, I found myself heading into these 3 months with anticipation and excitement, wondering what God will do – in me and in the ministry. I credit that change to the Holy Spirit, and His tool of choice – the sabbatical committee. I would liken my sabbatical committee to a doula. When I had my 3rd and last child, I had 2 doulas – friends who had not only had several children but had assisted others in the process of bringing forth children – and though that was it for me, I always tell younger women – don’t have a baby without a doula! Don’t plan a sabbatical without one either.
As defined in our organizational sabbatical protocol (which we gleaned from other ministries who share this practice), sabbatical encompasses the ideas of delight, trustfulness, restoration, and shalom. We find delight in ceasing from our labors, and yet enjoying their fruit as we step back for bigger perspective. We practice trustfulness, knowing that God is working in our absence, just as He was in our presence. We find rest and restoration as we cease from our labors and bask in the reality of His great love for us apart from what we do. And we experience shalom as we focus more intently on areas of our own souls and daily lives that may have been neglected in the busyness of ministry. Sabbatical is a time to renew and refine our vocation, the manner in which we live out the gifts and skills and talents He has given us to the glory of His name and the advancement of His Kingdom.
Sabbatical follows the practice mandated and outlined by God for His people – for themselves, for their land, for cycles of slavery and freedom, and for worship. Sabbatical is just an extended version of a sabbath, which is to occur every 7th day – as modeled by our Creator God Himself. It is a year of rest every 7th year. Maybe when we’re a bigger organization, we can manage a year (I know some ministries that do!), but for now, ours is 3 months.
Tim Keller speaks of six different types of sabbath rest and recommends that we engage in each of them regularly. I’ll tell you what they are, and my thoughts on each of them as I head into this extended time of sabbathing. (I am sure that’s a verb…)
- Unplanned time – This is time to just do whatever comes along, or nothing at all. I had a whole day of that yesterday. I was still in my pajamas at 2:00 pm and my children were completely weirded out. I also found it strangely disconcerting and refreshing at the same time. It felt strange and unproductive – but as one of the members of my sabbatical committee said to me, “You might want to spend some time on this sabbatical sitting with the Lord about why you feel you must be productive at all times…” So, there will be more time like that in the next 3 months, so that I can dig a little deeper into that.
- Avocational time – something pleasurable, but that takes some skill and expertise. For me, that will include some writing and some art classes. I don’t remember who said it, but it has been said that “if you work with your mind, you should sabbath with your hands, and if you work with your hands, you should sabbath with your mind.” I work with my mind, so I’ll find some time to create with my hands.
- Contemplative time – intentional time for replenishing our inner selves and resting in Christ. This includes time for reading, reflection, journaling, solitude, and prayer. I have a couple of retreats planned into this sabbatical, just for that purpose. The first of those starts on Monday, at a ministry retreat center in Indiana. Four days of solitude and debriefing with a Spiritual Director to unpack the past 10 years of ministry and life transitions.
- Aesthetic time – time to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, and the work of His co-creators in art and music. I have some beach time planned in December in Sierra Leone with my kids, and I don’t really know a better aesthetic than that! I will also be taking in some art museums.
- Relationship time – time set aside to be present with family and friends. Part of the gift of this sabbatical is a gift for my children as well. They have given up much in the past 10 years of Accessible Hope. There have been gains for them as well, as they would admit, but there have been losses as well. So this year, we will be spending 2 weeks together in Africa for the holidays. There will be very little connectivity, so more time for games and reading and enjoying activities together. I am also going to be spending a weekend retreat in Sierra Leone with several good friends, whom I rarely get to spend time with as my time there is always packed. And there will be visits to family members and friends as well.
- Sabbath injected into work – this is the real power of sabbatical, taking the principles back into your work life. This is akin to the command to not harvest to the edges of the field, leaving grain for the poor to glean. It is not squeezing every bit of productivity out of the day, leaving larger edges. For me, that probably looks like a to-do list with less on it each day.
In the months since my sabbatical was determined and planned, I’ve had the opportunity to mention it to various ministry leaders in my circles. The idea is met with a wide range of responses – from horror (“Oh my goodness – I could never do that!”), to envy (“Wow, I wish I could do that.”), to curiosity (“What does that look like?”), to skepticism (“Are you really going to be able to do that??”). I understand all of those reactions. I’m still pretty curious as to how this is going to go, and I know the plan!
So, undoubtedly, for the next several weeks, some of the reflections in this writing vehicle (which is going to transform to an actual blog while I’m off) will center around how this sabbatical plays out. Stay tuned…
Resting in Him,
Kim