The need for sabbatical rest amongst the ministers in our fellowship is real! Joel Peed has been at the forefront of carrying that message through both sermons and personal conversations. Joel was available and helpful for our leadership group here in Madison Wisconsin. He was able to help them grasp the need for my wife and I to have an extended rest after 25 years without a break. He and his wife Christy were quite generous with their time and wisdom in helping Carol and I come up with practical plans for the three month time away. I experienced symptoms of real burnout which turned physical with an unrelenting headache. I am deeply grateful for Joel's dedication and insight into this much misunderstood need!

-Tom Nuelle, Madison Church of Christ

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My wife, Lisa, and I took a sabbatical together in April of 2021. Our sabbatical was a one-month trip to the mountains of Tennessee where we stayed in state park cabins or Airbnb rentals near state and national parks. We planned for days of hiking the mountain trails through streams and to waters, and some days to be down days where we could read or watch things or otherwise keep ourselves entertained. Many days, we would pack our lunches in a backpack and head out for most of the day to hike, returning in the late afternoon or early evening.

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The most significant aspect of the sabbatical for me was the depth I experienced with God and Lisa because of the way being on sabbatical created room for depth in my life. Normally, our days are filled with work, people, and appointments (amen!), which might allow Lisa and I to be together alone for 20 minutes here and there. On sabbatical, we could talk 30 minutes on a topic during a hike, drift back into silence and wonder at the trails we were exploring, and later on spend more time exploring that topic- then come back and revisit that topic the next day. The same thing with God. I wasn't trying to get up an hour before I had to get ready and leave in the morning to get a fixed time with God- I could take as much time as I wanted, come back to God whenever I wanted.

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For me, the power of sabbatical was found in the way it creates the space in your life- the time in schedule and the freedom to explore your heart- to get deeper and deeper, in a way that is hard (impossible?) to do without a break from everything and everyone we commit ourselves to when living the life of discipleship. It brings new value and importance to scriptures like Luke 5:16, when Jesus would go to "deserted places to pray." (NRSV)

-Steve Payne, Chippewa Valley Church

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