Author: Caleb Callari

Today marks the last day of my 30 day sabbatical, and it is certainly a bittersweet day. The time I had to see family was special, for me and for them, and being able to unplug for a while and relax was much needed. I am reminded now, however, of all my to-do lists and important things to take care of and I’ll be honest and say it’s almost an overwhelming feeling. But I know that it will all be sorted out, that the pressure will ease, and that God is in control of all things.

I return to work glad for a routine again, happy to be of service and thankful that the Lord provided the rest I needed to be able to keep moving forward.

As we wrap up our longest leg of our Sabbatical, I feel a sense of closure. We ended up spending more time at the house than I had originally thought we would; in fact my service project ended up helping my father replace some plumbing in the basement (or at least the demolition and cleaning up portion) and beginning the process of cleaning and organizing the whole basement (pictures below). And here I thought my fitness activity would be low key!

Throughout the cleaning and organizing process, I was able to share a lot of my history and my family’s history with Vanessa. I didn’t realize how important it is, as I transition to another stage in life, to still look back on my past, share it with someone, and shut that door one last time. I feel a similar sense of closure as well, as I have had opportunity to spend time with my family and talk to them about our shared past and our family members who have passed away.

All in all, despite the stress of planning outings and driving here and there, time spent with family is invaluable. The next leg of my Sabbatical begins tomorrow: Connecticut here we come!

I had to use a sledgehammer to break all this concrete, then dig and haul the debris upstairs from the basement and behind our backyard to dump. Great workout!

The contrast between my wife and I’s time in Virginia and our time so far in Buffalo is really standing out to me right now.

Our week at the resort was filled with plenty of down-time, periods of activity followed by plenty of rest, and planning our days to do as little or as much as we wanted to. Our time in Buffalo began with the dreaded delays and cancellations that plague air-travel; we didn’t arrive in Buffalo until a full day after we were supposed to.

Once we were on the ground we started seeing family immediately, and have since only had one “rest day” when we were not spending time with family or planning activities to do. Now, I want to be clear that I enjoy seeing family and spending time with them. But I am seeing that taking a Sabbatical carries a different meaning for everyone, and what we each need to be rested is also different. For me, some activity followed by a period of rest is perfect. So even seeing family I haven’t seen in years and spending time with them can end up being stressful and feeling like a chore if I don’t have some space between those visits (don’t tell them I said that though, that’s just me being real)!

I’m doing what I can to stay rested and fully enjoy the time I have with family. There must be a balance between the good things (family) and the necessary things (resting with God). Finding that balance has been a struggle, but without the struggle there is no victory!

With one week of the Sabbatical being gone now, I am reminded of how difficult it is to slow down enough so that the days seem to be longer. Up to now they have flown by, although being at a resort with my wife has helped. It is just so easy to fill my day with “fun” things that it passes as quickly as when I’m working (no, work is not always fun, but it’s always a great place)!

My challenge for the rest of my Sabbatical is to keep slowing down, and not fill my day with things to do simply for the sake of doing things.

My other challenge is to keep my blog entries short, and not essays; so far so good!