Author: Jeff Robinson

I guess the old saying is true “Time flies when you are on Sabbatical”.

The final 10 days.  Melissa and I finished our service project and said goodbye to everyone at the Salvation Army, at least for now.  It was an eye opening experience for me to learn just how many people in my community need the assistance that is provided by the Salvation Army as well as others.  I was impressed with the level of care that is provided on a daily basis for those who need it.  It was a blessing to be able to do what we could and get to know some of the families who came every day for the lunch we provided.  The only time it felt like work was the day that an unexpected delivery of donated eggs arrived just as we finished cleaning up and were leaving.  They cook breakfast for 60-100 every Sunday prior to their church service which would mean eggs for several weeks.  We volunteered to put them away but found there was no room in the refrigerator for 60 dozen eggs.  After some brainstorming with the staff and a google search, we learned that if we cracked and scrambled them, and put them in the freezer, they would last up to six months.  So, for the next two hours Melissa and I did just that and filled a freezer with 720 eggs, two dozen at a time in ziplock bags.  Needless to say, we won’t be cooking eggs for a while.

We spent more time at the pool relaxing,  went out to dinner with friends, went to a movie, and enjoyed the 4th at a cookout with my family.  We pretty much just spent our time together doing as little as possible, trying to avoid anything that would be classified as physical labor for the last few days before heading back into the real world.  I finished my book “Wild at Heart”.  It was a different and interesting look at how God created us for adventure.  The quote from John Eldredge that sums it up for me is “Life is not a problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be lived”.

Hard to believe it’s over. As of 7:30 am tomorrow I am back in work mode with my East Region (BMR) team monthly skype.  After that it’s the task of sorting thru a ridiculous number of emails and making phone calls to as many customers as possible in my one day back before flying to Abilene on Monday. It’s going to be difficult to flip the switch back to work mode after 30 days of occupying my mind and my time with so many things other than my job.  I look forward to getting back to the work God has called me to do, and the daily conversations I have with my customers and everyone I work with.  I will however, miss spending all day everyday with Melissa.  Not many couples get to spend their first 30 days of living together in the way we were blessed to experience it.  I will always be grateful to work for a company that made that possible.  Thanks Kris

After a very busy first ten days, the second third of my sabbatical journey has been more about resting and relaxing. There were a couple of painting projects that we have now finished, but for the most part I have learned to not try to fill my time with things to get done while I have the time off to do them. Instead, I (Melissa and I together) have spent the last week and a half relaxing at home for the most part, now that she is moved in and we have started to settle into our new and improved lives together. We did make one road trip to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, but it was a relaxing day and no time constraints for what we wanted to do.

We began our service project last Friday and will continue through the end of this week, and possibly thru the 4th. We are working with the Salvation Army to prepare and serve lunch to school age children who come each day to take advantage of the program. Some parents bring not only their children, but others who wouldn’t be able to come. I have learned a lot about the needs we have here in Cleveland from talking to the employees at the Salvation Army headquarters, as well as the families we have met. When I asked Ivory, the woman who oversees the lunch program, about other opportunities for us to help in the future, the topic turned to the homeless. This is where I learned that we have many more homeless people than I would have ever imagined in my hometown. She opened the back door and pointed to a large slab of concrete across the parking lot and explained that many of them would gather there every night to sleep. I asked how many homeless we have in our town of about 45,000? I guessed 25 or 30 and she shook her head and said it is well over a hundred. This shocked me, then I realized that like most of us, we don’t spend much if any of our time in the parts of town where this is going on. We aren’t sure yet exactly what our involvement might be moving forward but I do know God is using the sabbatical to show Melissa and I where he can use us. I look forward to seeing where he will lead us.

Besides our service project, most of our time over the last ten days has been spent lounging around the pool in the afternoons, walking on the greenway in the evening, and basically doing nothing which has been amazing. I have been surprised how easy it has become to not worry about work and what I have planned for the next week, day, or hour. I think I could get use to this!!

The first 10 days have been full of changes, some minor and some major.  My sabbatical began on Wednesday June 8.  After my daily quiet time and reading from the devotional book which I have chosen for this year (Uncommon Life Daily Challenge) by Tony Dungy & Nathan Whitaker, the realization sunk in that Melissa would be here in the afternoon for good, FINALLY!!!  I spent most of the day straightening the house and preparing for the major changes that were about to happen.  She arrived around 6 and looking like Jethro Bodine coming up the driveway with her car packed the the limit with the remainder of “her stuff”.  The only thing missing was Granny in a rocker on top of the car.  After a few minutes of resting from her long drive and dinner, we unloaded the car and left the real unpacking for later.  After four long years of waiting for this day it was finally here, and now the real fun starts.

We spent the next few days “moving in together”.  This means we cleaned out drawers and closet space to accommodate Melissa’s clothes, shoes, and all the other “stuff” she brought with her.  We found that I had a lot for items for Goodwill which had been pretty much just taking up space.  Now the reality sets in, she’s here to stay forever this time!!!  This was the biggest change for both of us, and one we have been looking forward to for a long, long time.  We spent the next week together 24/7 and it has been an amazing time finally seeing everything God has put in place for us come to be.  To top it all off we get to experience our sabbatical together, what a blessing!  We have accomplished so many things over the past 10 days.  The following is a synopsis of my first 10 days.

We have settled in to a routine of daily quite time alone.  First thing each morning we find our spots to be alone and read. meditate, and pray.  The book I have chosen to go along with my daily devotional is “Wild at Heart”, by John Eldredge.  It is a very interesting take on how God created a man’s heart different from a woman’s.  It’s full of descriptions of men in the scripture and how they are created for adventure, battle, and basically manly things.  I also plan to read a small condensed book from Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life which is entitled “What on Earth Am I Here For”.

We have been shopping on several occasions.  Lowes has been the number one target so far, but we also watched the bank account decrease as we have patronized a host of other local businesses in an effort to make the former single guy’s house into a home.  Some of these stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Trees & Trends, and Hobby Lobby to name a few, were new to me but I have learned they are all part of the home improvement plan.  I’m having to learn all over again that decoration is an important part of the marriage.  Fortunately, I have a great teacher.

Our service project at the Ronald McDonald House ran into some timing and training issues, so we had to begin praying about finding something else.  God provided that quickly for us as we stopped by The Salvation Army office on Friday.  They were excited to see that we were not only looking for something to help with now, but also as an ongoing venture.  They gave us a couple of events to work later in the month but also said they would like to interview us after they get our info in their system to see where we could fit in moving forward.  We will be having that interview next week and are looking forward to seeing what doors open up for us as a couple.

The office:  We had to find a way to rearrange my office so that Melissa could set up everything she needs to work from home.  It is a large room which of course I had cluttered up with things that were not necessarily needed.  We were able to find a new piece of furniture for the scanner/printer during one of our shopping ventures.  Not sure what was wrong with the folding card table I had it on but she said it had to go.  We bought Melissa a new office chair (much nicer than mine by the way) and set up her desk, then tested her computer and phone equipment which is all working well.  We also went thru my filing cabinets which I also found were filled with old useless papers and documents.  By the time we finished with my stuff and some that she brought with her to go thru, we accumulated almost 100 pounds of paper that we hauled away to be shredded.  We now have one small filing cabinet and have all of our personal documents combined in one drawer and my business files in another.  A sense of accomplishment was felt by all!!!

We have been busy but have found plenty of time to rest and relax.  Sleeping in every morning is a pleasure.  One of us seems to sleep in later than the other but I won’t get into that.  We have found several movies and Netflix series to watch in the evenings.  We even spent one evening watching our Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Finals.  They lost but it was fun introducing Melissa to another sport and realizing that we have crazy NHL fans in Tennessee too.  We spend time just sitting outside talking and planning the next days activities, or lack of activity, whichever the case may be.  We have spent two afternoons so far with more to come, at the pool in the apartment complex where we just moved my mom.  My sister and I have helped mom sell her house and move her into a very nice one level apartment.  She just couldn’t handle the stairs any longer so we have been dealing with this for the last few months but now she is moved in.  It’s only five minutes from where we live so Melissa will be able to help us keep an eye on her.  We have already been by to visit with her three or four times since Melissa arrived.

Exercise:   We have made time to walk on the Greenway here in Cleveland.  It is a beautiful 4 mile stretch which has been built over the last 10 years for walking/running and bicycling.  It runs beside a creek, through a couple of parks, and parallel  to one of the main streets in town.  There are several different areas where you can park, depending on where you want to start and how far you want to go.   We are walking a different section each time.

So far, just having the time off from work has been the hardest thing to get use to.  Even when I’ve been on vacation, I would still get phone calls and texts from customers as I’m sure everyone else in the field does also.  Being able to let everyone know ahead of time and explain the sabbatical has made such a difference.  I said it has been hard to get use to, not impossible.  I have adjusted and the feeling of freedom is amazing.  Now that the moving in, unpacking, redecorating, and making changes is in the books, I look forward to the next 20 days which will be more calm and peaceful.  We will be taking a couple of road trips to enjoy the beautiful area where we live and make sure Melissa gets to spend some time in the mountains that she loves so much.  But mostly I see myself taking the opportunity to relax and pay attention to what God has in store.  I’ll let you know how the next 10 days goes.