Back in Miami!

Paul and I have arrived back home in Miami after our 22 day adventure to begin my Sabbatical. In that time we traveled to the upper Midwest, almost to Canada and then down to the heart of Texas, stopping in Chicago and St. Louis along the way. We saw amazing wildlife up close in their natural habitat, pushed our bodies to their physical limits, lost weight, ate good food and bad food, as well as freeze-dried food. We reconnected with family, much of which we had not seen for 4-5 years. It was a more draining trip than either of us imagined, but a very important piece of this Sabbatical. My plan in scheduling this trip at the start was to provide myself a month to decompress, de-stress and disconnect from my daily routine at the Church. From the research I did about sabbaticals it seemed important to provide this buffer between my regular schedule and the meat of the sabbatical, the trip to South America to learn Spanish. This trip certainly accomplished that goal. The Boundary Waters expedition at the beginning did exactly what I expected it to do: get me away from computers, cell phones, TVs, radios, newspapers, all means of communication with the wider world. For six days I was alone with my son in the middle of a portion of the world still approaching the virgin state God created. Even though I came out of the woods and began using my cell phone to call home and my laptop to check email, it helped me begin to let go of that world and those responsibilities. I have learned it is very difficult for me to let go and not keep checking on what is happening at the Church, but this time away has helped me begin to let those ties loosen and drop away. It also helped me begin to get in the right frame of mind to be gone from home for 3 months. After three weeks I was definitely ready to come home. I realize now it will be a little more difficult than I anticipated to be gone for such a long stretch. I trust that I will be helped in dealing with the absence by the routine of taking classes each morning and the task of learning and practicing my Spanish language skills. It will also be important for me to develop some routines, such as walking, regularly praying & meditating, and daily journaling to reflect on my experiences. I must also be sure to be kind and gentle with myself and not expect or push for too much. Tomorrow I will share a little about the experiences we had visiting family.