In The Margins

Sat/09/03/22 I had the opportunity to take a 9 week sabbatical this summer, my second one in almost 20 years serving with Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC. The time away to focus on things that breathe life into, challenge, refresh, invigorate, and inspire me is invaluable. I returned to work this week awash in all of those and with a renewed sense of purpose and calling as a pastor and an eagerness to be with "my people": for though I am a minister on staff at Snyder, my community of faith is here as well. And I missed that.

I appreciate very much that my church doesn't require us as part of a sabbatical to produce something (i.e. book, research, continuing education, or some such project). Yes, there have to be plans, goals, and a proposal that is vetted among trusted and caring church leaders, but each sabbatical taken over the last 8 years since the policy was instituted has been as different as each minister who has taken one. Even my two have been very different one from the other. Ahead of my first sabbatical in 2015, I had everything planned, scheduled, in order, and ready to execute: personal retreat, worship conference, visit 9 different churches in 9 weeks, raise funds for and record a Christmas album. Second one? I had a list of goals and some things I definitely wanted to do but not nearly the structure of my first one. This summer would not be like the building of a house with the blueprints in front of me. It would unfold like the blooming of a flower. And unfold and bloom it did!

And I captured a lot of it in a journal I kept throughout. And if you know me, you're doing a double take right about now because I've never really been much of a journaler. I've always had great intentions, and I love a book of blank pages glowing with potential and untapped creativity. So, guess what? I have quite a few books bursting with potential and only a few pages of prose. [Sigh] But I do love to write. I even write songs of all things 😜. So, consistent and intentional writing, daily and sometimes multiple times a day, is something of a feat for me, one in which I found great joy this summer.

So why a blog, you ask? I wanted a space to share the thoughts, reflections, prayers, and creativity I found in the margins this summer, a season where I had a chance to step away from daily routines, a hyper-connected lifestyle, and all the lines of busyness that define the pages of us.

In the ensuing weeks and months the posts here will arise from the journal I kept on my sabbatical...and which I still keep close at hand. I will quote it directly, maybe even post pics of entire pages (good luck reading my handwriting). I will summarize or expound or let a thought inspire something brand new. Some posts may only be a few lines, some perhaps as lengthy as this. My reflections and creativity ran the gamut from songs to prayers to scripture to ideas for a novel to just about everything in between. And I look forward to sharing them with you.

I hesitate to promise something weekly but that's my intent. So let's see how this exercise unfolds. My sabbatical journal will anchor things but I'm hopeful about what else this space may welcome. I look forward to you joining me and commenting and sharing (at least I think you'll be able to do those things). And more than anything, I hope that this space itself will inspire each of us to find and create margin in our lives, because I'm quickly coming to believe that what happens in those times, those seasons, moments, & deep breaths, may well be as important as the lines composed of our routines and busyness.

Love y'all, Giles

PS - I think there's a place you can join a mailing list? Not sure yet how all that works but if you might want to receive a periodic email from me - if I can figure it out - then, yeah, fill it out. Ha!