My Sabbatical

Thanks to a generous policy approved by the elder council, pastors are allowed (even encouraged) to take time away for a sabbatical. I begin my sabbatical this week.

I thought you’d like to know what Nanette and I will be doing during our time away.

Their policy stipulates that there should be both a professional development component and plenty of time for rest during the sabbatical.

For the professional development component, we will attend the Christian Writer’s Conference at the Billy Graham Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. I have submitted one of my blog pieces for a contest, and I have scheduled an hour with a consultant, who will give me professional feedback on my blogs and study guides.

After the conference, we will stay a few more days in the Asheville area, then head north to Washington, DC, for me to check off an item from my bucket list: two days to visit the Bible Museum.

From there we will go visit our sons and their families in Maryland and Pennsylvania. We plan to get back in the middle of March.

And in case you’re wondering, I’m taking three books with me. Time permitting, I’ll read these three titles in this order:

1.   A Burning in My Bones, by Will Collier, a biography of Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message. (I’m already about a third of the way through it. Fascinating.)

2.  The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives, by Dallas Willard, a classic on the spiritual disciplines (available on our Discipleship Resource shelf).

3.   A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul Miller (the book our women are studying in our current women’s Bible studies).

We should be back for the March 17 Sunday services, Lord willing.

Pray that God will give us safe travels and good health and refreshing rest.

Persevere, Paul Pyle Pastor of Discipleship