{"id":8557,"date":"2025-04-01T14:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/?p=8557"},"modified":"2025-04-01T14:18:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:18:32","slug":"rev-lee-returns-from-sabbatical-on-april-1st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/rev-lee-returns-from-sabbatical-on-april-1st\/","title":{"rendered":"Rev. Lee Returns from Sabbatical on April 1st"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear WellSpringers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have missed you so much \u2013 and I\u2019m thrilled to be back in ministry with you all, beginning again today, Tuesday, April 1.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
View of the Shenandoah River from the top of Jefferson Rock – which I climbed on my trip to Harpers Ferry, WV.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For the past four months, whenever anyone asked how my sabbatical was going, I found myself repeating the same refrain: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. What a ridiculous privilege this is: to have four months all to myself\u2026 to rest and learn, to spend my time exactly as I choose\u2026 to have the freedom to say \u2018yes\u2019 to everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we weathered the upheavals and chaos in our nation \u2013 since January, especially \u2013 I\u2019ve had the ability to practice \u201cputting on my own oxygen mask first,\u201d and to build up that habit over a long period of time. I\u2019ve leaned into the sabbatical goals I set for myself, with guidance from our Board of Trustees, with ample time for study, reading, reflection, and rest. I strengthened my self-care routine as well, and attended worship services held by other faith communities in our area to see what I can learn from our neighbors. Finally, I completed multiple training programs for faith-based community organizing, including certification through the classic four-day \u201cOrganizing for Justice<\/a>\u201d course at Midwest Academy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I told you when I left in December that I would come back ready for the year ahead, and friends: I am ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be with you this Sunday morning, April 6, to rejoin our community\u2019s life together \u2013 and then back to preaching on Sunday, April 13. You\u2019ll hear a bit more about what I\u2019ve been up to, over the next few weeks \u2013 but I know I have a lot to catch up on, from all of you! I want to hear about everything I\u2019ve missed, and I know Sunday\u2019s coffee hour will never be long enough to fit it all in. So I\u2019ve created a little survey<\/a> that I\u2019d love to have you fill out. It asks four questions \u2013 you can answer all, a few, or just one of them, whatever feels right:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What made you most proud of our congregation in these past four months?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. What was the hardest part of the sabbatical, for you?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What was different during the time I was away (either good or bad)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Who really went above and beyond during my sabbatical? Who do I most need to thank?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Click here to tell me what I’ve Missed!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    In these first few weeks back, my intention is to listen and learn about what\u2019s been happening within our community, and what\u2019s changed in this time, for you. It has been the gift of a lifetime, to prepare for our years ahead together with this time of deep rest and renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take care \u2013 and I\u2019ll see you on Sunday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Rev. Lee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dear WellSpringers, I have missed you so much \u2013 and I\u2019m thrilled to be back in ministry with you all, beginning again today, Tuesday, April 1. For the past four months, whenever anyone asked how my sabbatical was going, I found myself repeating the same refrain: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. What a ridiculous privilege this is: to have four months all to myself\u2026 to rest and learn, to spend my time exactly as I choose\u2026 to have the freedom to say \u2018yes\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[98,112],"class_list":["post-8557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellsprings-news","tag-bot","tag-staff","ctfw-has-image"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-225x300.jpg","large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-768x1024.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-150x150.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-768x1024.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-1152x1536.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-1536x2048.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-720x480.jpg","saved-section":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-1680x1050.jpg","saved-banner":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-1600x400.jpg","saved-square":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_9184-720x720.jpg"},"appp_media":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8560,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions\/8560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}