Hello, friends!
Week one of my sabbatical is done and I’ve learned/been reminded of a couple things. The first is that I’m not as good at relaxing as I thought I was. The first couple of days of my sabbatical, I spent thinking about customers, admin work, and the people on my team. It’s difficult to change such a frequent weekly routine! The next lesson I was reminded of is that MY plan isn’t always God’s plan for me. After a full week, I can say that I’ve haven’t felt this peaceful in a very long time.
My week started with diving back into a daily devotional (Jesus Calling) and reading more about God’s intentions for me in this world. It has felt amazing, being that I have unfortunately failed at allotting much time to this lately. The love that God has for me and everyone (despite our flaws) never fails to leave me speechless, and motivate me to be more like the person He wants me to be.
I also made it back home to Abilene for a few days, which hasn’t happened since Christmas. I love the feeling of coming home after an extended period. The reason I went to Abilene was to spend time with my parents (long overdue) and to volunteer at a few places that I knew of in the community. The humbling visit was exactly what I needed at this point in my life.
I volunteered a few days this past week at the Food Bank of West Central Texas, helping the team there receive shipments, prep for outgoing deliveries, and organization of the stock. I can honestly say that before I actually started, I was hesitant to spend my time here because I had the preconceived idea that this wasn’t as important as other volunteer opportunities I could be partaking in. After a few days there, I realized that helping here was just as important as any other organization I could be giving my time at. This food bank serves a total of 13 counties and helps pantries all over west central Texas give food to people in need in their communities. I was directed by a lady here named Becky, and it was really great to see someone so passionate about what they do.
I also gave my time for a morning at Beltway Park Baptist Church. My dad volunteers most weeks here by helping prep and cook the Wednesday night dinners, and this week I asked if I could join. This was also very needed for me. Living in Austin now, I truly do miss the tranquil feeling of walking into Beltway and worshiping with my family. I was able to spend a few hours with my dad while also giving back to the church and lending a hand to prepare dinner for over 300 people.
I ended my week by traveling to Dallas and spending time with friends that I haven’t seen in quite some time, and even mended a relationship that I didn’t realize was strained in the process.
I plan to read the book, The Go-Giver, this week. I’ve heard great things about it from friends who have already read this. After this book, I plan to re-read a couple of books that I think it’s time to look back on from when I participated in the Leadership Development Academy. The books I read during that time positively impacted me and I think revisiting a few will help polish up my sales skills for post-sabbatical world.
I am so thankful and blessed to work for such a great company that allows me to participate in a sabbatical. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this month has in store for me.