Sabbatical
The past three months I’ve been on sabbatical and came back in August. I went into it with plans and goals. I was asking myself, “What do I hope to accomplish during this time?” I didn’t want to waste this opportunity. So I made a list of things I wanted to do. Some of it I was able to check off. Others I did not get to. However, it was exactly what I needed.
As we were getting ready to come back, Irene and I spent time talking about how grateful we were for this time. We saw this as a blessing from God. We were able to spend three full months together with our daughter. We were able to visit our families in Korea. God reminded us again of how He’s surrounded us with family who love and support us. It was such a joy to see our daughter spend more time with her grandparents and relatives.
We got to connect with friends we have not seen in a while. And God reminded us of how blessed we were for friends who we can grow deeper together with even if we don’t see each other frequently.
We got to worship together as a family. It was wonderful to worship and be fed by God’s Word. God reminded us of the beauty of His Word and the importance of worshipping with our daughter (even though she may not know or understand). There’s something beautiful about bringing your young child to church with you. It’s an act of worship. I was grateful to Irene, and all the parents with young children, for the sacrifice they make every Sunday. Parents, this is a beautiful expression of worship; to bring your child(ren) to church to worship God! You’re doing great!
We got to live a simple life of playing with our daughter and scheduling or days around her nap times and wake windows. There was something freeing about the simplicity of focusing on my family. There are many things I’ve learned in this short time as I focused on being a better husband and father. And I was so grateful to God for that.
I had some time to read. I read the Bible and a couple books. Though I wished to have read more, I was so encouraged and refreshed by it.
But it wasn’t just about the things we did or people we met. God had reminded us of how blessed we were for our community. Though we unplugged from COAH during the sabbatical, God was showing us of how much we love our community. We missed you all so much and feel refreshed and excited for this next season. You are our brothers and sisters in Christ and we’re honoured to be walking with you.
Thank you for giving me this memorable time; a time to rest, regroup, refresh, and reset. And together, let’s wait on the Lord to see where He wants to lead us; both individually and as a
community. Thank You Lord for revealing so much to me and I hope to use that in serving You and COAH faithfully.
Blessings,
Pastor Timothy Song