Sabbatical Reflections Part III, the Family Truckster

Remember the movie National Lampoon's Vacation? Where the Griswold's led by Chevy Chase got in the green station-wagon called the family truckster and set out from Chicago to Wally-World in California on the vacation of a lifetime?

The road trip my family took on part of our sabbatical was nothing like that-except for the family truckster part (which turned out to be Kristi's dads Honda Odyssey mini-van, which actually ran like a dream!). We too drove to California, though our trip took us from Seattle down the Oregon Coast, through the Redwood forest, ending up in San Jose. But instead of being a comedy of errors, it turned out to be one of those great lifetime gifts that provided adventure, refreshment and love. I want to spend this entry discecting the road-trip part of our trip.

At the outset of our sabbatical, Kristi and I knew we had three major things we wanted to accomplish. We wanted to 1)give me time to study/work on my dissertation 2)see our family and friends in Seattle, 3)and we wanted to spend time as a family of 5 by ourselves, exposing our kids to a little bit of America in the process.

After the first 5 1/2 weeks of pounding out a good part of my dissertation, the kids got out of school and we flew to Seattle. 4 days later we started off on a 3 week trip to try and accomplish goal #3 -- spend some family of 5 time together. We were able to borrow my father-in-law's van (a great gift!) and set off down the Oregon Coast, heading for San Jose where we had a house to stay at, made available to us by some generous folks from our church.

Some might accuse me of living in the past (or not being very creative) -- but the trip I planned down the Oregon Coast mirrored almost exactly a trip my parents, brother, and I took in 1990, as we drove him down to college for his freshman year at Stanford. All the places we visited (along with a few new ones) were one's I remembered from before; Cannon Beach, the Sea Lion Caves, the Dunes and Dune Buggy Rides, The Redwoods (complete with a huge talking Paul Bunyon (or "Onion" as Dayle calls him), seaside diners, beautiful vistas, and Crater Lake (on our way back up). To have the time to explore, have adventures, and just be together in new, and beautiful places was a memory I will have forever. Here are some things I learned:

• The Oregon Coast is maybe the most beautiful place in America. The beautiful beaches, gorgeous outlooks, and the huge rocks coming out of the ocean like fingers ripping out of the earth were breathtaking. To be able to see this in the glorious weather we had was a piece of grace. (The picture above is from Cannon Beach, Oregon).
• Sand Castle buckets can double as barf buckets if you need them to. Only 2 people threw up in the car on the trip, which I suppose isn't bad for any car trip with kids. We want to teach our kids to share, but illnesses are ok to keep to oneself...Hey, it was all part of the adventure.
• Taking a dune buggy ride with your 3-year old might not seem smart at the time, but do it anyways. Outside Florence are hundreds of miles of sand dunes, where dune buggy rides and outfits line the landscape. The most adventurous thing we did was take a professional dune buggy ride as a family. 1/2 an hour of thrilling terror at 60 mph! I will never forget Dayle with her goggles on, strapped in so tight she can't move. During the ride, she said it's not so much fun. After it's over, it was really, really fun. Go figure.
• The Redwood Forest is a piece of heaven. To have my kids see some of these miracles, and get to see it with them, was better than any Disneyland trip.
• On our way back up from California three weeks later, we went to Crater Lake, Oregon. Crater Lake is a lake on the top of a collapsed volcano. There is nothing else there but the lake, and it is on the way to nowhere else -- at least a half-day travel out of the way. But it is the most beautiful thing we've seen in the entire world. Who would have thought water could be that blue? God's creation is amazing.
• I also was re-reminded that I have one great family. I'm thankful every day for them, but having a concentrated time to spend exploring, being, laughing, barfing (ok, that's the one part I could have done without), and loving each other was a gift from God. This one week was equally as important to me as all the work I accomplished on my dissertation, and anything else that happened for those 12 weeks. Our family hasn't ever had an experience like this by ourselves. When you live away from family, most of your time is spent going back to see them. While we wouldn't want to change that at all, we learned that times to just be the 5 of us on the road was a must.

Next time...European Vacation!

Prayers for Ben

Hey friends, just going to break into my sabbatical reflections to ask for your prayers. Some of our best friends, Jeff and Carin Towne, have a sweet little boy Ben, who is two. Ben was just diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Neuroblastoma, and began chemo immediately two nights ago. If you could pray for Ben, Jeff and Carin, and their family, that would be great. Carin is also 6 months pregnant, so prayers for the new little one as well.

Thanks,
jeff

Sabbatical Reflections Part II, The Studying

For the next few weeks, I decided to use this time to share some of my experiences on my recent sabbatical.

One of the main intentions of my recent sabbatical was to spend a focused amount of time researching and writing my doctoral dissertation. For those of you who don't know, in September of 2004 I started working on a Doctor of Ministry degree in leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon. I always knew I wanted to continue on with my formal education, and George Fox had the school, the program, the professors, and the location that made a lot of sense for me. So rather than waiting too long, my family and I decided to jump in. The first two years were a wonderful adventure, with classmates that I resonated with, and a program that taught me a lot and encouraged me to keep learning. At the end of those two years, I started working to craft a dissertation topic that I hoped would be helpful for me, as well as helpful for the church I pastor. Finally, I settled on "making disciples in an affluent church environment" as there was much I felt I still had to learn about helping people risk fuller disicpleship amidst great wealth.


This sabbatical came at the exact perfect time, as thinking about trying to write a major paper amidst full-time ministry and family seemed impossible. So for the first 5 1/2 weeks of my sabbatical, I worked all day during the weeks reading, taking notes, and finally writing my dissertation. Sounds like a drag -- but I had an amazing time.

First off the locale -- most mornings after my Bible reading (see below) and getting my kids on the bus, I went to Starbucks to read, take notes on my computer and organize my work. For one, this was tons of fun because sitting at Starbucks is one of my favorite things to do in the world. But secondly I felt like I was out in the community that I was trying to write about. For some of us, atmosphere is really important, and sitting at Starbucks added the atmosphere I needed (and the coffee wasn't bad either!). I read everything from Plato to Michael Novak to The Prayer of Jabez. Quite an eclectic mix -- but so interesting to see how the world (and the church) views wealth and how we might teach discipleship in the midst of affluence.

In the afternoon, I would hit the local library, where I did much of my writing in their wonderful study cubicles. I haven't studied in the library since seminary, so it felt like the good-ole days packing up my bags of books and spreading out there. I tried to keep this schedule up monday through friday, making sure I was home at the end of the day to get my kids off the bus. I had a few nights of editing and finishing up chapters to submit, but besides that I tried to have this not ruin my family life, and I believe I succeeded in that. In short at the end of the day I finished about 85 pages (out of 130 or so), completing in draft form 3 of my 6 chapters. My plan is to have the rest finished up by the end of this month. Then the editing begins...

What have I learned from this process? For one thing, I learned how refreshing and important it is to have time to focus on one topic for a prolonged period of time. The nature of pastoral ministry is that every day is a variety of opportunities and interruptions, which makes every day an adventure. Yet I believe it is also valuable for the church to have its pastors spend time focusing on one thing -- both for their spiritual benefit, as well as for the church's benefit. I also learned how much I like studying and writing. I hope that this won't be the last time I get to take on a project like this.

After the first 6 weeks, I put the writing aside. While I read a lot on the second half of our sabbatical, it was time to take a break. I'll let you know when I finish it up.

jeff

Sabbatical Reflections Part I, How I Started My Day

For the next little while, I think I'll take some time to write about what I had the chance to do on my sabbatical, and maybe some of the things I learned along the way.

One thing I decided to do during the 12 weeks was to try and read the entire Bible from cover to cover. This was a great opportunity I thought to break in a new Bible (my old one was falling apart), to maintian focus, and to get me in a good rhythm. My friend Ed had made up a reading plan for me, giving chapters to read each day from May 7 to July 18 (about 15 chapters per day). I have read the Bible through many times before (especially in the past decade of seminary and ministry), but never this fast and with no other agenda but to experience it.

With a busy family and kids who needed to get up for school pretty early, I thought it was going to be a bit of a struggle. Questions rang through my head. What if I get behind? What if I get bogged down in Leviticus? Will I learn anything from such a fast read? But on Monday, May 7th at 6a.m. with cup of coffee (or two) in hand, I started Genesis 1.

And I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of the entire sabbatical.

I think I had forgotten a little bit of what it is like to read the Bible devotionally rather than academically or professionally. The story of God's love, of humanity's brokeness, of God's redemption rang throughout the Old and the New. Even the "boring" parts like Numbers and Leviticus showed themselves to have purpose and content that still rings true in our current context. The persistency of a God who loves people won me over once again, and my spirit received new life. Every day, I couldn't wait to get up and get back to the text. Rather than a chore, it turned into a relationship that has been a struggle over what can be the grind of professional ministry. I got to the end on July 18th and was elated and bummed at the same time that it was over. What it really did though was make me hungry for more. It made me realize the power of the written Word and its ability to breathe life into souls that need its fresh air. I think to myself, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" But having enough time set aside to want to do it rather than have to made all the difference.

j