Gifts of Sabbatical Time

 

This past week I found myself working on the clergy report for my parish's annual meeting. Since there was never a formal report back to the parish about my sabbatical, I wrote a lengthy reflection on the gifts of sabbatical time. It seemed appropriate to share that part of the report here: ​ Sabbatical My sabbatical was a gift.  Primarily a gift of time and space.  I was away from parish life for four months, three months sabbatical time and one month of annual vacation time. As I look back and reflect on what God was up to in my life from May 21 to September 24, I can only smile and give thanks for the many ways God helped me to slow down and fill my inner well, which quite honestly, was dangerously low in places.  As well as, for the ways, the gifts of sabbatical are continuing to flourish within me.  This summer away from parish life was the first time in my adult life that I had ever been given the opportunity to slow down. The summer after I graduated from Saint Anselm College in 2006, I married Jason, began working for the Diocese of Maine as a Youth Missioner, and started at Bangor Theological Seminary. In 2007, I gave birth to Logan, and shifted my seminary studies to part time.  My last year of seminary was filled with the final steps in the ordination process, interviewing for a job, and giving birth to Lucas, who arrived six weeks early in March 2011. A few months later I was ordained and became the Associate Rector at St. Philip’s in Wiscasset and Grace in Bath, Maine. I left that position to serve former St. James’ as Priest-in-Charge in January 2013. Former St. James’ celebrated its bicentennial, held a modest capital campaign for the Rose and Whiteman Windows, refocused on mission to our local community, called me as Rector, underwent the Recasting of Building Assets journey, took a deep breath, and then began the journey of e-merging with former St. Andrew’s, and the next thing you know we were The Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew! Those years were a whirlwind! While my brain knew it was time to slow down, I think it took me a solid four weeks into sabbatical to even begin to let my whole self actually slow down. Then the real work of healing and renewal began. One of the places I noticed healing and renewal the most was with my children.  The three of us were not used to such time together.  It was one of the greatest joys of my life to have this time with 10 year old Logan, and 7 year old Lucas. It was, and has continued to be, a joy and a delight to see who God is making these boys into; to take the time to play endless games of Uno, to be their teacher for a few weeks in June, to watch them swim in a 50 degree Atlantic Ocean, both in Maine and Ireland; to see them take risks and grow; to see how they respond in stressful situations, and know that they will be okay. These boys are resilient, and taught me how to be more so.  It was also a time to give pause and examine what was going well and what was not. Some of the changes that came out of sabbatical time for me, were (1) a better sense of why it’s important to continue to keep good boundaries with my time. On the church’s end, this takes the form of me not working on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as not answering emails late into the evening during the week. On my end, it’s making sure I am using sabbath time not just for various chores, but for making sure my inner well stays at a healthy level. (2) Keeping up important rituals in my prayer life so that my life in God stays fresh and alive. (3) Saying ‘yes’ more when my kids want to do something together. (4) Joining the YMCA and welcoming that workout routine into my daily life. (5) Continuing to foster a life beyond my parish life.  As our Canon Rich Simpson once said to me, “I’ve often thought one of the best things I could do for my work in the church was to have a life beyond the parish.” The more I live into this idea, the more I find this to be true.  One of the big changes that came out of sabbatical time for our family, was we realized it was time for Jason to change jobs. He had been working as the Executive Director of Atlantic States Rural Water and Wastewater Association in Suffield, CT since 2015. While he was primarily able to work from home, the job was all-encompassing, a sinking ship that wanted more and more time.  After three years of giving it his all, we realized it was time for a change. He took a position with his former employer, Maine Rural Water Association, (a sister company) located in Richmond, Maine, as the Educational Development Director.  Like his previous job, he primarily works from home, and goes up to Maine for 3-4 days a month. It also gives him a chance to visit our parents and family, who live nearby.  The changes we both made as a result of our sabbatical time together, have given us more time to focus on our family and supporting our boys as they navigate the ups and downs of growing up, and for Logan, starting middle school.   I’ve told you a great deal about what happened as a result of sabbatical time, now let me tell you a little bit of where and how we spent our sabbatical time. I began sabbatical on retreat with my spiritual director, who resides on Martha’s Vineyard in a co-housing community (a cool idea I continue to love).  Then our family went on retreat at Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George, NY (a great place I recommend to anyone).  On June 1st, the boys and I headed to Maine where we stayed in Ocean Park, at a cottage owned by extended family. From there we spent the next three weeks at my in-laws in Augusta, Maine. Here we reconnected with our family and good friends that still reside in the area. We spent one weekend camping in Acadia National Park.   On June 24th, Logan, Lucas, and I headed to Ireland. We didn’t really sleep on the plane ride over, and as we got into our rental car (with the driver on the opposite side of the car, and the car on the opposite side of the road) we stopped and prayed that I wouldn’t kill us as we drove three hours to southern Ireland. The  next day we drove back to Dublin to pick up my mom, and the following day back to pick up Jason. By then, I was practically an expert at driving into the puckerbrush. There was really only one driving incident where I scraped a post in Kilkenny, Ireland while avoiding a car driving in my lane (ALWAYS buy the rental insurance, ALWAYS…) We stayed in Ireland for four weeks making our way around the island like a clock: Dublin Airport to Stradbally Cove, Co. Waterford  to Annascaul, Co. Kerry to Ballyvaughn, Co. Clare to Portballintrae, Co. Antrim and back to Dublin. We visited Newgrange, Knowth, Kilkenny Castle, Rock of Cashel, the Dingle Loop, Ennis Friary, Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Crough Patrick, the Famine Memorial, Killington Abbey,  Dunluce Castle, Giant’s Causeway, Monasterboice, both Titanic museums (the boys favorite); and a hike on the Kerry Camino where we were not fully prepared, and my mom was whisked away on a helicopter causing a bit of unexpected adventure (she was fine after a couple of days).  While staying in Westport, two significant events happened. First, my grandfather died, and we had his graveside service in Norway, Maine in August. Second, events arose at Jay’s then job with Atlantic States, which required that we cancel our August trip to Newfoundland.  So when we returned from Ireland in late July, we spent more time than we originally planned at home. It was an unexpected gift, where we really slowed down even more.  We visited friends, swam at the Green River, went camping in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, visited family in Maine again, and got ready for the new school year to begin. In mid-September Jason and I flew to Fort Worth, Texas for a work conference he needed to attend.  It gave us a bit of time together, and I also used it a week to prepare for reentry into parish life.   You can view a few photos from our sabbatical time here. [SsJA]None of this would have been possible without the above-and-beyond work of Rev. Molly and Rev. Deacon Ann, our wonderful staff, our fantastic co-wardens and officers, and our vestry keeping business going as usual back at SsJA. Rev. Molly and I spoke every three weeks for a few hours, and she kept me apprised on parish dynamics, joys and concerns, which we believe eased the transition back from sabbatical, both for me and for our parish. We are uniquely blessed to have two priests and a deacon, which allowed for this sabbatical time to go so smoothly. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who stepped up to tackle additional responsibilities, affording me this gift of sabbatical time. You are an amazing parish, and you handled this sabbatical beautifully--not necessarily an easy task for a new parish! Thank you, for this gift. I look forward to continuing to share the ongoing gifts of my sabbatical time.