We are safely back home in the UK after our 3-month sabbatical. Words seem very feeble to describe what an incredibly rich, life-giving, valuable time this has been for us. We plan to share some of our deeper reflections about how God has worked in our hearts in an upcoming series of posts. For now, we’d like to share some facts about where and how we spent these three precious months – and of course we’ll include some photos! The bottom line is, we have come home with hearts full of gratitude. And we are now big proponents of sabbaticals! God has been so good – we are not the same people as we were before.
Where? – We spent nearly 2 weeks in Dallas with Aliyah and Michael and then spent nearly a month in Arkansas before moving on to Oklahoma for several weeks. We had a few days of transition and travel in Missouri and Kentucky before spending 3.5 weeks in Tennessee. Before flying home from Chicago, we spent a long weekend with Joel and Mariah. We drove over 5000 miles through 12 states. This may sound exhausting, but it wasn’t, as we stayed a long time at our main locations and had only 6 or 7 road trip days in the 3 months. The travelling was actually enjoyable and we were able to see many parts of the USA that we hadn’t seen before. God’s creation is truly amazing!
Who? – We had time with family at the start of the sabbatical (in Dallas with Aliyah and Michael) and the middle (a reunion week in Oklahoma with all of our children and their families) and the end (a long weekend in Chicago with Joel and Mariah). The rest of the time, it was just the four of us. Peter and I were able to attend two marriage weekends and we had a whole week alone together as a couple which was such a gift.
**More photos at the bottom of this post**
What did we do? – We stayed in some truly beautiful locations and so we spent as much time outdoors in God’s creation as we could! Some of the highlights were amazing sunsets, long walks in the woods, lovely ponds and mountains. We saw some wonderful wildlife – including deer, wild turkey, geese, many other birds and also elk and bison in a special reserve area in Kentucky. We even caught a glimpse of two black bears! God blessed us with a lot of sunshine even in the winter months. We experienced a huge variety of temperatures (from -5 C to 34 C!) We read LOTS of wonderful books (individually, as a couple and as a family). We played games, ate good food, took our time doing everything and laughed a lot. We took a few day trips to interesting places (The Great Smoky Mountains and the Ark Encounter were highlights!) and enjoyed the culture of the southern US states. Peter and I had a lot of good time to connect as a couple, both serious conversations and fun. We both journaled a lot, and had plenty of unhurried time to read the Bible and pray and journal. The girls crocheted, sewed, played outdoors, made boats to sail on the ponds out of recycling material, baked, kept journals and went horseback riding. (Yes, and they did some schoolwork too!) We had many, many God moments – where we really experienced His presence and his love. If you prayed for us, thank you so much. He has answered abundantly. More on this in upcoming posts! For now, we’ll share a few more photos at the end of this post to give you a taste of the beauty and joy we experienced.
Memory making moments? (Scary, funny and enjoyable!)
On the way home from a Rend Collective concert we were privileged to attend, we hit a skunk on a dark, lonely road in Arkansas. It was a smelly situation, but we were very glad it wasn’t a deer! We were also thankful to just miss hitting a deer in Tennessee.
We ended up in a safe room in Oklahoma the night after we arrived because of a tornado. It really sounded like the house was going to blow down but God kept us safe! We had no idea that changing our plans to drive to Oklahoma the previous day meant we were not travelling during the tornado (but God knew!).
During high winds in Kentucky, a large construction barrel blew across the freeway and Peter was able to swerve to miss hitting it head-on – another kindness from the Lord.
On the more humorous side, we accidentally walked into two weddings! (ask us if you want to know the stories!)
We had lots of interesting, funny and also some meaningful experiences at various churches. And at two of them Peter ended up connecting with the pastors in a really special way! (Again, please ask for the stories if you are interested!)
We attended an Easter morning service at an arena in Chattanooga, and we ended up standing in front of thousands of people and receiving a gift as we had come from the furthest away!
It’s been great to be home but it’s definitely felt like a big transition. We are still readjusting to normal life and catching up on emails and messages so thank you for your patience if you are waiting to hear from us. Peter is also getting ready to leave for the European Leadership Forum on the 15th where he will be teaching in the Bible teachers and preachers network. Thank you so much for your prayers for him and for all of us as we adjust back to our life and ministry here in the UK.
Here are a few more photos:
Watch this space for more posts where we will share some of our reflections on our sabbatical and the ways that God has worked in our hearts.
