What happens during 3 months of sabbath rest?

This Friday will be the final day of my sabbatical. As you can imagine, this last week has included a lot of reflection. In this longer-than-usual post, I will try my best to unpack what the past three months looked like and felt like. I’ll explain my goals and aspirations for the sabbatical, and how they unfolded in day-to-day rhythms and practices.

This post will be insightful for both (1) those who follow my life and leadership, and wondered what I was up to for 3 months, and (2) those who are considering a sabbatical and need some direction on how to plan.

The Ultimate Goal of My Sabbatical

My overarching goal or purpose was to rest, and rejuvenate my relationship with Christ while refreshing my pastoral calling. The best way to sum up how I engaged in sabbatical over the past 3 months, would be related to important instruction given to us by Jesus, found in Luke’s Gospel.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…” (Lk. 10:27a)

This verse helped me understand that my time of sabbatical should contain emotional (heart), spiritual (soul), physical (strength), and mental (mind) rest and renewal. I tried to keep these components weaved into each day, as was conducive to what was already planned.

Most of my tangible objectives fell within one of two areas, (1) Personal Disciplines & Rhythms, or (2) Special Events & Projects, which I will unpack later in this post.

Sabbatical Wasn’t Just for Dad

It was important for Nicole and I, that this sabbatical was “not just for Dad”, but for our family as well. So, mixed throughout my extended time of sabbath rest were family activities and practices.

We had the benefit of our oldest attending online school, and our younger two being homeschooled. This allowed us to adjust our schedules to fit our new family rhythm. Personal disciplines were for early mornings, then schoolwork and sabbatical projects until noon. After lunch, we focused on family activities. (This, of course, shifted during conferences, day trips or other events, but you get the idea!)

We Left Canada

Regarding location, we chose to leave our home in the Yukon for the full three months, and relocate to Galveston (Island), Texas. Texas was warmer, it had access to the ocean, but most importantly, it was one of the least restricted places in North America.

After pastoring through two years of restriction and subsequent community polarisation, I was depleted of passion, vision, and hope for the future. I firmly believe God guided us to Texas during this season. It was open, free, and thriving!

I can assure you, after three months of living in a place that refrained from issuing government mandates, but instead, encouraged each individual to take their own personal precautions as a way of battling COVID-19; our family experienced the outcome.

Churches, communities and culture are full of life, joy and health, with no signs of the fear, anxiety and division that I had become accustomed to back home. This environment set the stage for me to receive excellent, unhindered rest, renewal, and refocus on what God has in store for the future.

“What did you do for 3 months?“

At least some of you are saying to yourselves, “Okay, this is all good, but what did you actually do for 3 months?” I hear you! This is important, and I will try my bests to unpack it as promised above.

Much of this content will be bullet-pointed with web links to keep the post flowing. Please feel free to drop a question below if you would like more details, and I would be happy to give you all the information you need.

Personal Disciplines & Practices

• Daily Devos & Journaling
  • BIBLE READING & PRAYER: “The One Year Chronological Bible”
  • JOURNALING: “A Father’s Legacy: Your Life Story in Your Own Words”
  • WEEKLY SABBATH: Including a family sabbath meal and reading, followed by 24 hours of rest, no work or chores for anyone.
  • BI-WEEKLY REFLECTIONS: “7 Things You Can Address During Sabbatical”
    1. Change Your Pace of Life – Do I need to be busy to find fulfillment?
    2. Face Yourself – Do I need to achieve to have value?
    3. Get Back to the Fundamentals – Do I need anything more than Jesus right now?
    4. Process the Previous Season – Do I need to grieve wounds or address conflicts from the past?
    5. Get To Know Who You Really Are – Who am I, really?
    6. Let Go of Unnecessary Things – What should I say “no” to now, and when I return to work?
    7. Connect to Enjoyment and Fulfillment – What brings me joy and contentment?

• Reading & Listening
  • MESSY SPIRITUALITY: God’s Annoying Love for Imperfect People (By Mike Yaconelli)
  • Since Nobody’s Perfect…HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH? (By Andy Stanley)
  • BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (By Eric Metaxas)
  • DIDN’T SEE IT COMING: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences (By Carey Nieuwhof)
  • POWER IN WEAKNESS: Paul’s Transformed Vision for Ministry (By Timothy G. Gombis)
• Diet & Excercise
  • Fasting for 12 hours each day.
  • Keeping under 2000 calories per day
  • Jogging alternating 1.5 or 2.5 km Monday through Friday.
  • Working out with a program called, “Basement Beast”.
    • CAVEAT: Although the program was great, the “Basement Beast” instructor has a target audience of men, so there was occasional humour and language that was unnecessary.
• Fishing and Hunting
  • FISH: Atlantic Croaker, Black Drum, Florida Pompano, Gulf Kingfish, Gafftopsail Catfish, Hardhead Catfish, Sheepshead, and Atlantic Stingray.
    • Kept and ate what we could! 😋
  • CRAB: Blue Crab, Mud Crab and Hermit Crab.
    • All too small to keep and eat. ☹️
  • WILD HOG: Had a few hogs in range, I shot too high on the bigger hog and missed.
    • Hunting doesn’t always mean harvesting! 🤷‍♂️
    • But we got some meat from other hunters! 👍

Special Events & Projects

• Church Visitation
  • Catholic
  • Evangelical Free
  • Southern Baptist
  • Seventh-Day Adventist
  • Episcopal
  • Church of Christ
  • Greek Orthodox
  • Charismatic / Pentecostal
  • Missionary Baptist
  • Lutheran
• Writing Projects
  • Launched NORTHERN ROADS: A Journey of Life and Leadership Serving on the 60th Parallel.
  • Launched A JOURNEY OF LIFE AND LEADERSHIP: A 5-Day Reading Plan.
  • Submitted updated manuscript for LEAD WELL: 30-Days of Growth for the Biblical Leader.
  • Updated design and purpose of LEADBIBLICALLY.COM: Navigating the Life and Leadership God Has Called You To.
  • Started working on a new manuscript for MEETING JESUS: Transformational Encounters with the Christ (Found Within John’s Gospel).
• Conferences & Courses
  • C3 – Creative Church Conference
  • Carey Nieuwhof Mastermind Online Course – “How to Build an Influential Online Presence”
  • CMNetwork – Church Multiplication Conference

Conclusion – Looking Back, Looking Forward

Looking Back

This post is long, isn’t it? I realize that I could have left out the book I read, the fish I caught, the conferences I attended, or something else. That being said, writing this post is as much for my own reflection, as it was for you.

Truth be told, I could have added a hundred other details. There were so many more observations and adventures, and connections with people and places. I would have loved to share every one of them with you! Nevertheless, I am sure this was more than enough.

As I look back, I believe I have achieved the overarching goal of my sabbatical. I have rested in Christ, rejuvenating my relationship with Him. Throughout this extended time of sabbath, I have tried to embrace Christ’s call.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind…” (Lk. 10:27a)

I can’t say that I have perfected this, but I have a far greater appreciation and understanding of His call because of this sabbatical.

Looking Forward

During one of the conferences I attended, I had lunch with a pastor from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had planted his church 30 years ago and was still serving the same church

“What a legacy!” I thought to myself.

I leaned in and said, “I’m listening; give me some seasoned pastoral insight!”

He shook his head and forked through his salad. (He was thinking deep!)

Then he took a deep breath, and said, “I have never been more unsure in my ministry than over the past two years.”

Not exactly what I was looking for.

Seeing my disappointment, he added, “My plan is to keep doing what I’ve been doing for 30 years: ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’” (Mt. 6:33)

Although he was weathered by thirty years of ministry, and feeling lost after two years of storms, he could still see the Lighthouse in the distance! And he pointed me toward it.

As I look forward, I feel refreshed in my call to pastoral leadership. Lord willing, I will try my best to continue pointing our church toward that same Lighthouse, Jesus and His Gospel.

As I was finalizing and spell-checking this document, my oldest son was playing “My Lighthouse” by the worship band, Rend Collective on his laptop. I don’t think this was a coincidence. So instead of creating a few final thoughts or remarks to close out this post, I will instead, leave you with the chorus lyrics.

“My Lighthouse, my lighthouse, Shining in the darkness, I will follow You. My Lighthouse, my lighthouse (oh oh), I will trust the promise, You will carry me safe to shore.”