Thorny shards scatter
Look carefully
Step carefully
Soul-silence sweeping
Reality’s unveiling
It is rambling, infant chatter
undermined self-importance
It is unending, unseen chores
doorways to humility
It is traveling to teasing chants of “Betrayal!”
bear-hug forgiveness upon return
It is satisfaction overflowing
ambitions quietly simmering
It is quietness and trust
strengths drawn from repentance
Crystal slivers bagged and gone
Deeper truth glitters on
Surpassing value of You
Surpassing value of Them
Precious stones strewn
These fundamentally true
©2025 Jacqueline Tisthammer. All rights reserved.
When I write a sabbatical plan, my cup runneth over with potential. Living a sabbatical is more sparse than I can admit in the plan, and its midpoint demands a moment of acceptance.
What this sabbatical is now is what it will be. Now, what is God doing?
Activity can be meaningful, but deeper soul work is the real prize, and I can’t write a plan for that! The test of faith is whether I surrender to reality. Can I lay aside illusions and let everyone be who they are? Can I surrender my disappointment and let circumstances be what they are? Can I look closely and acknowledge God at work in all of it? Will I join Holy Spirit in laying the foundation of a new normal or will I, like Paul, kick against the goads?
This sabbatical, for me, is not so much a time of removal as a time of reengagement with reality.
Limitations are an integral part of that reality. Instead of walking a 75-mile pilgrimage, I am only now able to walk my kids into school. Instead of blogging every week, I am submitting my work to poetry journals. Instead of seeing friends at work, I am investing time in family and local friendships. Instead of needing discipline for homework, I need discipline to sit in silence.
By surrendering my sabbatical hopes in favor or reality, I am finding joy in being present to my family and church community. That joy is laying a new foundation in my soul, an opportunity to build a new normal if I will take it
Photo by Stephen Irwin on Unsplash
Catch up on Sabbatical Reflection #3: Slowing
Continue with Sabbatical Reflection #5: Teacher, Student, Self
In Pursuit of More 
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