Back in 2020, we were all preparing for my sabbatical. It was going to begin April 1.

“Ha ha ha ha ha,” we laugh, without mirth.

We rather swiftly decided to delay the sabbatical, a wise decision, but it is now possible for me to pick those plans back up. So I will be on sabbatical from April 3 through August 31. I’ll be back in September for our Homecoming service, and what a day that will be! I’m already looking forward to it.

Two years ago, I wrote about the purpose of sabbatical. It’s a good piece, and I can say that with humility because I’m primarily quoting from my colleague Rev. Sharon Wylie. So if you want to know about why ministers take sabbatical, that gives some helpful information.

My plans for what I would be doing on sabbatical have changed from two years ago. I have some structured things planned – I’m going to take my mom on a trip out to Big Bend, I’m hoping for some other travel that will help to widen my perspective on life, and I’m going to do some travel and research about Texas, the real history of Texas, not the hero-centered myths. I am a 7th generation white Texan, and there is a heaviness to that, knowing the oppression and injustices that happened here to indigenous, Tejano, and Black people.

But I am also looking forward to, as Rev. Wylie says, allowing the fields of my thinking to lie fallow. I don’t get much time for my mind to wander. My thoughts are most often on a leash, with all of their time purposed toward the next sermon. My systems coach has encouraged me to “leave room for surprises,” which I look forward to.

It is an amazing gift that this church gives me, in sending me off for rest and renewal. I am well aware that after the last two years, everyone deserves a sabbatical. I am humbled by this blessing. Thank you.

Not that I’m superstitious or anything … but my sabbatical will begin on April 3. Mostly for the pragmatic reason that our former intern Kiya Heartwood will have her ordination on April 2 (you’re invited!) and partly … well, yeah. Superstition.