i’ve been running on one more cylinder than i have for a number of months. and we (YS) have some big stuff coming up this year. we talked about this at our exec retreat, and i mentioned that i really felt i could use a couple weeks of sabbatical to re-charge. karla told me she wanted me to take a month! we looked at my calendar, and other than having to cancel my participation in the emergent board meeting and theological discussion, i had shockingly little in the next month, but lots of un-cancel-able stuff after that. so as of midnight tonite, i’m going on a four-week sabbatical! i’m so stoked.
i’m flying to hawaii on monday morning, and will have 11 nights by myself in an ocean-view condo. just me, a pile of books, a handful of questions to meditate and journal on, and a mai tai glass. then i’ll be home with my family for the two weeks following that. to make this a truly unconnected sabbatical, i’m committing to a few things that are pretty drastic for me: no blogging (posting or reading — i’m not even taking my computer to hawaii), no email, no cell phone, no checking messages. only my wife will have the phone number at the condo in hawaii.
so, fare-thee-well to my blog readers. i’ll be back.
Marko – I hope you have a great time of refreshing, relaxation and inspiration. You deserve it…
Make the most of it.
R
that is AWESOME!
Enjoy the rest, the beach, the renewal, the disconnection from “digital life” and the time alone.
…so awesome!
Right on Marko. Sound’s like you’re taking Doug Field’s Convention message to heart!
Marko,
A much deserved Sabbatical!!! Hope that it is amazing and restful. Enjoy and we will look forward to having you back afterwards.
I shall miss you, but will be glad to hear how God works. Enjoy the rest.
Cool…now I have to set a fire under the rest of our committee to make a decision!
God Bless
Enjoy!!!
Hear God’s voice!!
Way jealous but also stoked for you. My dream is to spend a week somewhere with a bunch of books.
Good Sabbath, brother!
woo hoo indeed! you’ll be in my prayers marko – joyful sabbath rest!
excellent man! blessings and prayers
Hope it will be a good rest. God bless
praying for you! and for jeannie holding down the fort at home! rest well friend and allow god’s rest to flow over you!
my quote from last week’s silent retreat for your time away
“wait…be silent…be attentive…wait..god is here”
blessings! lil
very cool. thanks for practicing what you preach.
peace,
Brian
So happy for you Marko. I pray you have a wonderful time just hangen with God. Try chillen under a palm tree as the sun goes down. Have a wonderful time.
S
Why am I replying…you aren’t reading this!
You go and enjoy your time of meditation and renewal. That is wonderful that you get to spend it in such a relaxing place.
Marko,
You are probally well into your time alone in Hawaii. I know that you are a busy man the needs his time to retreat. I attended a workshop at an inservice training for work about “compassion fatique” it hit me like a ton of bricks. It is an intersting term, but I can idenify with some of the signs. I have been on the road every weekend since before Christmas. Working full time and doing High School retreats…Now I am just sitting around being a bum tring to plan my trips for the next few weekends…It is somewhat of a relief to be on my own sofa this weekend with no agenda. I wish you the best and will add you to my prayers as you refresh. Peace
It’s wonderful that you have this opportunity
for a much needed sabbatical. With all of the
travelling that you do and now this stretch of
11 nights away, I wonder how Jeanne fares with
having to shoulder the load alone during your
absences? Maybe a sabbatical for her, too,
or a spa getaway weekend? I just know how
demanding it can be for spouses whose partners
are speaking around the globe and living
high-pressured ministry lives. So, Jeanne,
though we don’t know each other, I hope you’re
doing well, too!
Oregonian
Without blogging or checking blogs you will find yourself in state of torment. Constantly wondering who is adding comments to your blog while you are away. Wondering what else people are writing on other blogs. You will have keen insights that you will want to post on your blog, but not be able to. By the end of your two weeks away you will come back, gaunt and thin from not being able to sleep or eat being deprived of blogging and email. You will not even say hi to Jeannie othe kids when you come home, but run straight to your laptop to check your blog and emails. You will need a sabbatical from the stress fo taking a blogging and email sabbatical.
Marko! Good for you. I’m glad to hear you are taking some time for yourself and family. I have been encouraging my pastor to do the same. You shoulder a tremendous load every day and you need some time to breathe and just be and let God minister to you away from all the joys and heartaches of ministry. Keep up your good work. I really enjoy your blog-it lets me see your personal side and what you think about from time to time. Later Dude-prayin’ for ya.
Dear Oregonian,
Jeannie (Mark’s wife) here. Thank you for your kind thoughts. I’m hanging in there. There is some effort to that, as you apparently understand, but it’s going ok. Mark is local now, which is nice. He’s still completely offline. He’s doing well.
Shame on you, Marko.
miss you man, the blogosphere is just not the same without you! can’t wait to hear how you’re doing!
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, I’m beginning to experience markoblog withdrawal!! I keep asking Shane if you’re back to Wednesday nights yet, and he says, “Not yet.” And just the other night we were waxing poetic about that Sunday afternoon in our backyard, and how generous it was of you to start your sabbatical by honoring Steve’s invitation to share in Shane’s launching. Thanks, again.
Hope all is well and you are blissfully blessed, or blessedly blissful. Or both.