Sabbatical Thoughts

I am now in my third week of my Summer Sabbatical adventure. The first week was a time of adjustment. I found myself stressing over not "wasting" time and making sure I accomplished something. I filled that first week with lots of time with friends as well as days with my grandchildren and it was wonderful but I found myself feeling guilty about not getting anything done. By the end of the second week I was relaxing and getting into a rhythmn of being home. Still lots of time with friends but now I found myself really wanting to get into home related projects and Bill came home one day to find the house sparkling and the front and back porches cleaned and rearranged into comfortable living spaces.

This third week we are back from a weekend in North Carolina with Carl and his family. We brought Alex (12 years), Williams (11 years), Nathan (9 1/2 years) an Esther (8 years) home with us. Today is our first full day with them and we are enjoying getting back in touch with them. It is important to us to stay involved in their lives even though they live 300 miles away.

Each summer I look forward to having the grandchildren over for three days of NiNi Camp. This year we are doing it a little differently because we have three brand new grandchildren who have been a part of our family or two months now. It would be a little overwhelming for them to be away from their parents for several days. So tonight Tara and Eric will be bringing their kids for some fun with their southern cousins and a campfire, roasting hot dogs and making s'mores and memories.

Tomorrow we will have fun with just Carl's kids, maybe spending the day at the Hammerman area of Gunpowder Falls State Park on the beach and doing a little kayaking. Then on Friday the southern grans will meet the Columbian grans. We will take NiNi camp to their house for some games, crafts and fun with them.

Saturday is still unplanned as yet, although the kids tell me we have to go to Broom's Blooms that night because it is "tradition" to go there on their last night. Because on Sunday afternoon we will be driving south to meet Kimberly's sister so that they can visit with their cousins in Northern Virginia for a week before returning home to meet their brand new baby sister who is to arrive, Lord willing, on July 13.

More than anything during this time, I am enjoying unhurried time in my Bible each morning. This year we are taking a discipleship class with our small group so I have time to spend memorizing God's Word and discussing with others what God is saying to us through His Word. Time to sit on the front porch just enjoying swinging and gazing out over the farm across the street and having time to just "Be". Time to finally realize my goal of reading the book "Les Miserables" cover to cover.

My goal is to return at the end of the summer refreshed and recharged to be better used of God for whatever He has in store for me. So far, so good! So very, very good!