Category Archives: Pastor Wrinkles

SOME THINGS I DID. SOME THINGS GOD IS CHANGING.

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As I look back on this sabbatical, and consider some of the things I did during it, I am realizing why it had felt so different from other sabbaticals. Some of the things I did made this month different, and perhaps a bit un-sabbaticalish, but as I consider these things I realize that each has played its part in shifting/ revealing the rhythm of life for the future…which after all is the main reason I took the sabbatical.

On day two of the sabbatical a truck hit the church, so I spent some time this month dealing with insurance and contractors. That is an example of several administrative and pastoral tasks that I have taken on this month that I should not have. I have shifted over the month and have begun to delegate the tasks to staff and volunteers. As I come back I am asking the question, “What tasks do I need to begin to share with staff and volunteers on a permanent basis?”

At the beginning of sabbatical my old phone broke beyond repair. I had been jollying it along for a few months. I probably should have taken time to replace it before I went on sabbatical. I would not have had to spend five hours of resting and prayer time fixing something that could have been fixed if I had taken the time to do it before it was an emergency, As I come back I am shifting to a pace that will enable me to take care of necessary work before it becomes a true problem. I am going to figure out this procrastination thing.

During sabbatical I went to my doctor for my annual physical (something Im have been becoming better at). The physical raised some alarm bells for my doctor and she sent me for a cardiac CT which showed I am at risk for a cardiac event. I have been prescribed medication for the first time in my life and have been referred to a cardiologist. As I return from sabbatical I am choosing a pace that will involve the health care that is required to “take the journey into the winter season” (I have a lot more to say about that particular word which was a personal word to me and a corporate word for the church).

I am looking forward to hearing what the church has heard from God as we have sabbatical together.

BANG!

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For me sabbatical is really not about vacation. It is an intentional shift in rhythm to restore and guide.

Photo by Vladan Rajkovic on Pexels.com

To that end this year I have planned several restorative/ guiding events into my schedule.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com

The first was the first session of our fall men’s conference.

I arrived at about 5:30 to the smell of pizza cooking in the parking lot. I was just settling in when “BANG”!

Sabbatical begins with a “BANG!”

I was proud of our men. We gathered around the accident and prayed as a group. Fire, Police and paramedics arrived. The building was deemed safe. The gentleman involved was checked out and said “No” to further treatment and came in and had pizza with the rest of us and we went on with the event as planned. We patched up the hole after the event, called the necessary insurances and filed the necessary reports.

The world offers distractions. Christ offers a pathway forward. We can let distractions sideline us or we can move through them to the purpose of our lives.