Friday, May 10, 2013

The end of this leg of the journey (sabbatical) and the start of thenext...

We've reached the end of this part of the journey -- today is the final day of the sabbatical, and there's one word to sum up our feelings:  gratitude!  We're grateful to God for God's many gifts, especially our relationships with God, family, the Peace congregation, and the larger community!  We're grateful for this three month time to experience the three R's of sabbatical:  rest, relationships, and renewal.  We're grateful for Peace Lutheran Church for making this possible!  Leigh and I (John) are excited to return to Tacoma, to the Hilltop neighborhood, and to life and ministry at Peace Lutheran Church.  As we return, we're reflecting on many questions, and I especially invite the people of Peace, who have been on a parallel sabbatical journey, to ask these questions, too:
  • What have we learned about the sabbatical theme, "Walking Together in the City:  Growing Healthy Relationships with God, Family, and Community"?  How have we grown?
  • What have been the joys and struggles, the highs and lows, of this sabbatical experience?
  • How has God strengthened our understanding of our identity as God's children and our calling to use our gifts to serve God in the world?
  • What does God hold for us in the future?
Leigh and I look forward to conversations about these and other points of reflection.

Here are some pictures from the last week of our sabbatical:

Here we are in Seattle last weekend with friends Stacy and Diakonda.  What incredible weather!  Leigh and I attended a two-day workshop of the Gottman Institute called "The Art and Science of Love."  It was at the Seattle Center (in the background here).  After one year of marriage, we were strengthened as we talked with each other about principles that undergird strong marriages, grounded in clinical research.  Plus, the workshop was a kind of continuing education for me in my role at the church in premarital counseling and pastoral caring conversations with individuals and couples about relationships and marriage.  It was fun and challenging, and now we have more tools to help our relationship in the future!  I recommend the workshop.  Ask me about it.
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After Seattle, Leigh and I headed to Pacific Beach on the Washington Coast to enjoy the final days of sabbatical reading (for me, about Christian community development), running and walking on the beach, hiking in the Olympics, cooking, and relaxing together.  We stayed in a cabin built by some good friends.  We ended the sabbatical as we started it -- in the beauty of God's creation outside the city.  We started in the mountains at Holden Village.  We ended by the beach.




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