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Yesterday was July 29 . . . marking the one month countdown! I am spending less time at my laptop pouring over places and making reservations. There are still a few things that I need to “make arrangements” for, but now I am in the “getting organized” stage. Thinking about packing, getting the finances straight, making some plans for the church, deciding what to do about this and that, studying Italian, and doing some shopping! For several years now at least once a week I say, “I am going to get my life organized,” but nothing ever changes. Now I have to! That is as much an adventure as our journey that begins in a month!
Our journey will begin on August 29 at Parkview. David will use the “theme” of our sabbatical in his morning message. We will pass out some important information regarding how things will operate while we are away. Then we will enjoy the famous Parkview Fish Fry, and be done until December 11! How weird that day will be.
I will give more of our itinerary in the next post. 30 days and counting!
It was my mom who was the “hands on” (and I literally mean “hands on”) parent when I was growing up, but it was from my dad that I learned about money–he made sure I could count out change in the laundry by the time I was four years old. And, it was probably at that same age that he began to teach me lessons on “giving.” With a dollar in one hand and ten dimes in the other I knew that the value was equal. Holding up one dime he instructed me that whenever I received a dollar, before I could do anything else, one dime of it was to be given to the church. As I grew up I learned that my parent’s generosity to the church, missionaries, college kids, friends and family members far exceeded that ten percent. Silently they gave to needs that they knew and saw.
Asking for money goes against my independent nature. I work in the world of the church, I literally work in two different denominations, and I see “asking” on an almost daily basis. People call my local church and ask for help with their rent or utilities. Missionaries ask for offerings or regular “support” to their mission. Work teams ask us to donate to their favorite projects. College students write letters regularly to ask for financial gifts to help fund their mission breaks from school. I have been asked to help fund a foreign adoption. The policemen, firemen, and disabled vets will put the guilt trip on me when they call. Then when a disaster strikes, it is easy via text messaging–it will be added to my phone bill! It seems to me that everyone has their hand out for something, and I have to guard against cynicism, because I am overwhelmed with “asking.”
As I mentioned in my first post we are on the receiving end of an incredible gift from the Lilly Endowment to participate in the clergy renewal program. An unexpected gift. Our denomination encourages pastoral sabbaticals, and after serving for nearly 30 years we see and feel the need for one. But we are also in a church that is anchored to a huge debt, so with barely enough money coming in to make ends meet and the gloomy economic picture we knew that there was no way that Parkview could afford a pastoral sabbatical anytime in the near future. How amazing it is that the Lilly family established this Endowment, and part of their mission is to provide this opportunity to pastors from all over the country. It is with grateful hearts that we receive this gift.
My brother-in-law, Don, liked to give my kids unexpected gifts when they were quite young. They, being the children of their father, would begin to argue; he would tell them, “Say thank you and shut-up.” It has become our family’s mantra when it comes to receiving gifts–we say “thank you” then we shut-up.
I see now that Don enjoyed surprising the kids with a gift, just as my parents found joy in giving to the needs they saw, and I expect that the Lilly Endowment enjoys giving unexpected opportunities to churches and organizations. Is the lesson I am seeing here “don’t ask–just give?” Maybe, I will have to think about that!
So, I say, “thank you!” (Now I will shut-up!)
I have been spending a lot of time with my laptop lately. Planning, looking, booking, reading reviews, practicing Italian phrases, and plotting places to see and do. We are preparing for a journey this fall. David and I have been given the most incredible opportunity through our church. Early this spring, Parkview applied for a grant that would give us a sabbatical. So we dreamed, we prayed, and we wrote what we would most want to do if granted a three or four month leave from our “regular life.” At the end of June we heard that our church received this grant.
Home...where the journey begins.
I have the opportunity to share this journey with those who want to follow it. It has already begun, though I am still sitting in the log cabin on top of the hill in Brown County as I write this. In fact I am recovering from a very busy week of Bible School at Parkview–which is always a highlight of my year! The house is pretty quiet now, and I realize that it is at home where this journey begins, and it is home where we will return with our hearts and minds refreshed with the new things that our eyes have seen and our ears have heard; and the new life we are able to breath into our souls.
I will write more later. If you are reading this, thanks. I am humbled that you might be interested in where we are going or what we are doing. In the next post I will let you know more about the plans.
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