It’s really difficult to believe that my sabbatical time has come to an end! When I reflect on the last month and everything I was able to do and experience, I realize how lucky I am to work for such an amazing company that allows me to take in to experience God in a way that I haven’t in a very long time.
This past week I made it more of a point to set aside time for absolutely nothing but silence and prayer (about a full hour). If anyone knows me, this is extremely hard for me to do, as I would much rather be completing a task or even talking to the wall. What I learned from this is that regardless of what I’m saying, God hears my thanks, my struggles, and my hopes. What I also learned is that when God hears these things, he answers in ways that are never expected but always appreciated. My devotional during my sabbatical time was Jesus Calling, and I have to say that it really led me down an unexpected path of digging into my bible and re-reading these words. I plan to keep up this devotional even after this month to have a daily structured time for worship.
One of my goals for this week was to clean out items from my house that I did not “need” and either donate or throw away. Growing up, I somehow developed the habit of holding on to everything I owned in the case that I MIGHT need it sometime in the future (even though I absolutely would never use/wear the item again). What I did was separate the things in my life that I have not used in over two three months and things I’ve used more recently. 90% of the things that I had not used in the last three months was tossed. It felt really good!!
Another goal I had this week was to limit my time on social media. It’s been a while since I’ve really monitored how much of my free time I spend on it, but I was surprised with how good I felt when I wasn’t on any social platform for a day or two at a time. This is something I want to carry out with me as my sabbatical ends and I head back to reality; less time on my phone and more time seeing the world around me.
My chosen reading while on sabbatical was The Go-Giver, which was a pretty interesting pick! It centers around five principles that the main character discovers regarding success. One of the biggest lessons that I was reminded of was the importance in authenticity. “No matter what you’re selling, what you’re offering is really you.”
As much as I don’t want this month to end, I’m ready to get back into work life and begin a new chapter of incorporating all I’ve learned this month into my daily role as a market center manager. I can’t thank the TX03 team, home office family, executives, and Kris for allowing me to experience my first sabbatical.