Time of Rest

There is some exciting news that I can finally share with all of you. The elder board, deacons, and congregation have passed something very exciting for our family. My husband has been given a three month sabbatical!!!!! It will be from January until March.

We have been at our current church for the past ten years. Those ten years have been filled with so many blessings but also many hardships. My husband is at the point where he can't function any more - which isn't like him. He's burnt out. He needs some time to be recharged and refocused.

Everything has come on quite suddenly so my husband and I had to pray about where we could go during that time. Staying here wasn't an option because we live three minutes from the church. My husband would be too tempted to check up on things. The purpose of a sabbatical is to take a break.

If you know my husband, you will also know that he is not the type to sit around doing nothing. He did not want this precious time given to us to just be about sitting around resting. He wanted the time to have purpose. To study. To draw closer to God.

As we prayed, something kept coming up in my husband's mind: Hawaii. Hey, when I heard that word, I was on board! Who wouldn't be? But his reasons were twofold. The first reason was the YWAM Kona DTS. It is a program that trains Christians to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to all nations. There can be 600+ people on campus per session. We would be involved in the three month program that is focused on NE Asia (China, North Korea, and Japan). We could learn, be refreshed, be renewed, and use our time purposefully for Jesus.

When I heard that it was focused on NE Asia, I cried. Specifically, when I heard North Korea. My heart has been there since my childhood. It is where my mother was born. Where I still might have family. Where there has been so much spiritual oppression and physical suffering. My dream had been to adopt a child... from North Korea. But with my health being what it is, I had to give that dream to Him. He knows.

The second reason my husband wanted to go to the DTS in Hawaii was because of my health. My husband thought that being in a warm, relaxing climate could be good for me. Really. He knows how cold I have been since October. He felt that being in that type of climate and environment could help my health physically and spiritually.

We have always talked about DTS in the past. It has been one of those things on our bucket lists. We know many people who have gone to that program and have been so abundantly blessed! We want to be blessed also! And renewed! And refreshed! And refocused!