We are blessed to have a church that is looking out for our spiritual well-being! We have been at Grand Island Evangelical Free Church for seven years coming up on June 8th, so we were eligible for taking a three month Sabbatical. For those who might not know the process, the idea is that as we continue to pour out into the lives of others, there is a danger of becoming spiritually stagnant. You start to rely on your "same-old" tried and true techniques for helping others grow, and you lose sight of a having a spiritually alive walk with Christ yourself.
For the record, I don't think that has happened, but that's just the point... a time of intentional discipline, prayer, reading, and self-reflection helps to keep that becoming a problem. Hopefully it kick starts some new disciplines in my daily life after Sabbatical that will continue on past the time away.
I think it was providential that the first part of this time fell during the Lenten season in the 40 days prior to Easter, as I was already practicing a new discipline anyway. This year my goal during Lent was to give up any food between supper and breakfast. I know, it is somewhat lame from a two-thirds world perspective, but still helpful for me personally anyway. It's not about dieting or losing weight (though I welcome that!), but about denying myself in a simple daily way that takes my mind off of myself and puts it more on Christ. I have truly found that in practicing one simple discipline like this has helped me to grow in other disciplines as well without specifically trying.
Besides the Lenten disciplines, I have sought over these past three weeks to have some intentional extended times of prayer and reading. This is a bit challenging with three kids of age 7 and under, but we had some help... we traveled out of town and stayed with family and friends, and Hannah's sister Eva joined us for the second part of our travels as well. She is always great help to have around because she has exceptional initiative.
We started our journey toward Chicago, but stayed with Scott & Anita (my sister) in Omaha the first night. After a brief visit to see Jessie Todd and her precious baby Lincoln in the hospital in Des Moines, we pressed on and spent a few days with the Carothers, for whom Hannah had been a nanny after high school. I feel like I'm just going to have to say this about everyone eventually on this blog, but they were so great with the kids. Here are a couple of pictures :)
Okay... Now that I've got the ball rolling, I'll try to do the rest of the journey in shorter clumps. But I'll stop for now.
