Author: Kaesey Browne

My sabbatical has been over for a week now and I keep saying I have one last post to do. The good thing about doing the last post after I’ve come back is that I get to see how my time off has affected my “normal” life. I think back to when I first started and how worried I was that I would do it wrong. I think in one conversation with my Mom I said I was worried “I wouldn’t relax right.” Which as a serious Type A (really is there another kind?) seemed not only possible, but probable.
Looking back now, I didn’t do everything I thought I would do and I did some things that certainly weren’t on my list. My kitchen cabinets weren’t touched once (I’m stripping and refinishing them (for 2 years now)), bathroom remodel not completed, and many more projects are still in various stages of completion. But I did read The Blessed Life, went to a bible study here in Lawn with my mom, helped Diane at the food pantry, and had an awesome Mother/Daughter weekend in San Antonio.
I think having so much free time on your hands shows you who you really are when left to your own devices. I still kept a schedule, although not packed and with room to flow as needed. Having OTWH scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday gave me something to look forward to and still have nap time between the Tuesday shift. I still forgot to do my bible study homework a few times and might have been late a time or two to the pantry but I never got wound up or forget to be grateful.
I think that’s what has carried over into my normal life this week. How grateful I am to be able to do, work, play, spend, and give as I do. This Thursday I kept a promise I had made and stopped by Market Street on my way home to pick up this weeks donated items. I like the idea of staying in touch with my community this way. I had been praying that I would find some ministry that would need help this April and that I could continue to help them as I could through the rest of the year.
God calls us to be givers. “God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7. The word cheerful actually comes from the Greek word ‘hilaros’. It’s where we get the word hilarious from. I like thinking about being hilarious in my giving. Cheerful implies I smiled as a I gave, hilarious says I was laughing as I did so. Thinking back through the month spent with other volunteers, family, and friends I can definitely say that I laughed as I gave my time back to God.
I know a lot of ya’ll still have your sabbatical on the horizon. A word of advice? Don’t worry about what you will do, if it will be good enough, or if you will get it all done. Just sit back and laugh at what God is going to bring to you and what you will do for him.

This week I took more time to relax, enjoy the gorgeous weather, and get ready for Easter.
Monday I tried out a new life group and had a blast hanging out with everyone. It is the first group that, instead of following after Pastor David’s sermon, started our own discusssion. It was interesting to see why everyone believed what they do about Christianity.
Tuesday I worked at OTWH again. It was busier than it had been last week. But with 4 people, we were able to have two walk people through and two restock the shelves. We had received 6 boxes from Market Street and Emma and I were able to get the boxes emptied and get the shelves restocked from the storeroom. At the end of the day, we had a lady stop by and ask for help for a guy in Abilene. He was young about 19 or 20 and when he had graduated high school and turned 18, his parents had left him behind when they moved and he has been struggling ever since. She said that he is struggling socially and survives off a can or two of vegetables a day. Everything he does is within walking distance from where is he staying, which makes doing everyday things (like going to the laundromat and getting groceries) difficult. Diane and I went through the pantry and pulled everything he would need for the week. In total I believe it was a little over 3 boxes worth of items we sent; including toilet paper, detergent, cereal, noodles, mac and cheese, all sorts of canned everything, and on and on. The lady also told us about a sale that would be happening the next day at HEB where everything was $1. She told us that HEB frequently did these sales to get rid of any overstock and it would be great way for us to stock up on some much needed items.
Which brings us to Wednesday. I got up early and headed out to HEB. I arrived at 8am and joined the queue. By the time it opened at 9 there was over 30 people in line with their baskets ready to go. Once the manager said ‘Go’ all 30 shot into the sale area and pandemonium began. Think Black Friday, but instead of TVs and video games it was giant folgers containers and shampoo for $1. Most were filling up their carts with with as much as they could hold. At check out time, everything was cash and all barcodes had to be marked through (to keep people from returning the items for more cash). I wound up getting three boxes full of our most needed items for $100, easily 5x less than what it would have been normally. I was able to get a before picture and one with the end of the queue, but no pictures of the chaos.

Wednesday was also the Passover meal at Beltway. I have been to the Passover before and I always enjoy going. For those that have never been I’ll give a brief description. The celebration is done at Beltway Church and everything is already laid out on the table. It’s a Jewish tradition to celebrate when they were liberated from slavery from the Egyptians. At Beltway, we also tie it to when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his desciples. We have a Jewish rabbi perform the Passover for us and much of it is in Hebrew. They do serve a supper and everything is explained as we go through the ceremony.
Thursday I finished handing out brochures about our STC cleanup Sunday April 23rd to those houses that were missed on Wednesday night. I finished the day off by working at OTWH that evening and packed and headed to Lake Brownwood to be with my family for Easter. We had a total of 24 at the lake even though we were missing 7.
I’ve spent the rest of the week and Easter at the lake. It’s been great to be able to relax and spend time with family. Hope everyone had a great Easter and is enjoying the rain and sunshine!

Read more…

I started my sabbatical on Saturday and have already been blessed. I started the day off by going with my Mom to Beltway’s garage sale and then going to look through a few vintage shops around Abilene with her.  I was also able to go hang out with some friends and go see the new beauty and the beast that night.

Sunday I went to church at Beltway and they gave out free money! Kind of. I am suppose to give the money to someone this week and report back this Sunday. I’ve been keeping the money with me and am praying for a God opportunity to give it away. My family and the Jones met up and had lunch together and then everyone headed to Fred and Lydia Sandlin’s house to help them pack. They are moving to be closer to their son and are leaving the area that they have lived for several decades. The church family of Lawn Baptist Church gave them a send off that night and we prayed over their family and everyone wished them the best as they began their next adventure.

With all the blessings going on around me, it seems that God always has to outdo himself. It has been raining on and off all weekend. I LOVE it when it rains. I couldn’t help but take a walk in the rain last night and think about what this month has in store for me.