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Dear Beloveds, It is with great joy that I share with you that I will be leaving for sabbatical on the evening of May 14th! I was ordained in 1996, and this is my very first sabbatical I will be taking since I began my ordained ministry! I am so grateful to Pastor Matt, our Personnel Committee, and our Session for helping me to make this come to fruition. This will be the first time in our 30-year marriage that Charlie and I will be apart for this long of a time, so I ask for prayers not just for myself, but also for Charlie, that he will not be too lonely or hungry while I am gone! Sabbaticals are given to pastors as a time of rest, recovery, and learning. I am grateful for the gift of this time away, having gone through many challenges at our church over the past 17 years. I look forward to this time of true rejuvenation, discovery, and learning. The theme for my sabbatical is all about “Rest with Renewal.” With this theme in mind, I have chosen to work on a farm on the grounds of a medieval monastery in a remote part of France. While I am a bit nervous for this adventure (I know nothing about farming and agriculture, nor do I know the French language!), I know that God will teach me so much during my time away. I will be working in the fields of the farm every day, staying in very spartan communal living quarters, joining the friars in daily worship, doing my laundry by hand (as there are no modern luxuries), and will be happily sequestered from the world, working side by side with the monks and other sojourners from around the world. I will be gone a total of three weeks, the last week devoted to true physical rest, more reading, processing, and writing my reflections during this time. I look forward to sharing with you all that I learn when I return back to our church campus on June 5th! Sabbaticals at our church are 6 weeks in length, but Pastor Matt and our Personnel Committee have graciously allowed to me to split this time in half so I will not be away from my beloved for such a long period of time; I will be taking my second half of this sabbatical this fall. I will continue to be in touch with Pastor Matt while I am gone, but the internet service where I will be is unknown at this point. I have started an Instagram account so that you can walk with me! Please follow me on @maypeacebethejourney_revgrace on Instagram; I will be uploading photos and videos from my sabbatical and beyond. Please do join me on my journey of discovery - and I greatly appreciate your prayers for both Charlie and me. I will miss you dearly while I am gone, and please know that you will be, as you are always, in my fervent prayers. With great love for you, Pastor Grace
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