Sabbatical Plans

This summer is a time of rest and renewal.

I'll keep the myspace page, but my plan is to be mostly off line except to post pictures once in a while. Also my riverandvine e-mail will have a vacation message on it. So catch me this week if you need me before I go!

I will be resting, studying, thinking, praying, writing and playing. I have a stack "this high" of books I want to read. Here's where I'm going:

June is mostly time by myself. After the girls and I go to Mom and Me Camp, I'll go to the Trappist Abbey (www.trappistabbey.org) to pray and clear my head. I'll have a week at the Grunewald Guild (www.artfaith.com) to study art and spirituality with Bro. Mickey McGrath (www.beestill.com). His new book, At the Name of Jesus, will be the basis of my sermon series for December 2007 through Easter 2008.

July is mostly time with Michael. My brother Jonathan will take care of the girls while Michael and I go to Los Angeles to study at seminaries, visit churches and museums, and renew our marriage. Highlights will include studying the Gutenberg Bible and ancient manuscripts at the Huntington Library, Greek and Roman art at the Getty Museum, using the library at Fuller Seminary and visiting the church I pastored in Escondido. We will take a short cruise out of San Diego with my mom and Jonathan.

August is family time, reading and reflection. My dad and his wife will be with us here in Gresham the first week of August. I hope to catch the Mount Hood Jazz Festival and Mt Hood Repertory Theater when I'm here. We will go to Kauai August 6-16 with Michael's parents, siblings and their families, thanks to the generosity of Michael's parents. Then Michael and the girls and I will stay another week in Maui. I'll go back to the abbey for the last week of the month to pray and write before returning to church September 1.

Please don’t bother our house sitters while we’re out of town, but feel free to send us a card as we’ll be dropping into town frequently and will pick up our mail regularly. Have a great summer!