sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Arabic Sobat, from Hebrew shabbat i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing") is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible (Leviticus 25, for example, where there is a commandment to desist from working the fields in the seventh year)
on october 11th, min and i embark on our three month sabbatical. we are deliberately entering into this time with the intention of creating space for rest, reflection and discernment.
rest - it is customary for people in the fields of education and christian ministry to take a sabbatical every seven years. ours is slightly different in that though it has been seven years for me on staff with inter-varsity, i will not be returning but moving on to a new ministry context. it is also different in that we are primarily going on sabbatical for rest rather than further education or training. both of us have gone pretty hard with work, ministry and education and we feel like taking a short break while we transition is a good thing to do.
reflection - we have also gone through a lot, particularly in the past five months. we are looking forward to the space and time we will have to reflect on the big questions of family, ministry, work and calling.
discernment - lastly, we need to make some important decisions about what we will be doing and where we will be doing it after the sabbatical. rather than just taking whatever opportunity arises or whatever makes the most sense, we want to approach this decision with an particular ear to where we hear God's invitation and calling.
we hope to include you, our friends and supporters in our sabbatical journey. without being overly exhaustive, we will post our adventures from time to time, both the ordinary and extraordinary. we look forward to spending lots of time with friends and family, visiting cool places, reading great books, eating lots of good food, exercising and praying.
we look forward to sharing the journey with you.
