inspiration

SABBATICAL DAY 15: THIS SABBATICAL’S MENTORS

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Yesterday was a day of relationship. I talked with my sister in The Netherlands for about an hour and a half. We talked about the calling and how it moves and shifts in our lives creating a never-ending journey that we sometimes flow with and other times struggle with.

Then I went to breakfast with my son-in-law James Franklin, who has helped me out during this sabbatical by preaching for me.

We talked about the word of prophecy for our church Cornerstone.

After that, My son and I took a walk around the greater block of the Vicarage. I told him the history I knew of the schools in town: Old Murdock, Streeter, Poland, Wheeler. As we walked I talked to him about the people I knew in each house: Jack Bowler, the Sweeney’s, the Knocks, The Blacks, Mr. Otto. We noted the dates on many of the historic homes: 1840, 1791. How different was life back then? How different from my life was the life of Capt. Murdock or Morton Converse?

I said before that I had trouble finding mentors to speak into my life for this sabbatical. Maybe I didn’t have trouble. Perhaps I was resisted by God because He had already chosen those individuals who would speak into my life and they were much closer to home than I was willing to look.

The conversations I am having are much more organic than traditional mentorship conversations, but perhaps this time around they are the more resonant for their organic nature. In these conversations I am hearing the echoes of my deepest thoughts, even some of those hidden from me by myself. There are things being called to the surface I was unaware of.

Things like: I am an escapist at heart always trying to distract myself with petty entertainments when questions of legacy and leadership arise; I procrastinate because I have been infected by the spirit of lack that is epidemic in our land; The call is not convenient and it is not comfortable, but it is good for me in my truest self; There is a price to pay for a deeper walk with God and I need to pay that price.

I entered this season a little disappointed, maybe even a little concerned, because I had not been able to find my mentor(s). I know now that God is the One who always had charge of the arrangements for this season and He has chosen His best for me.

HAS GOD EVER SURPRISED YOU WITH A BETTER BEST THAN WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS BEST?

SABBATICAL DAY 13: The End Part Felt Like a Hallmark Movie

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

I am just about half way through sabbatical 2024. I have had the privilege of attending three conferences and 10 prayer meetings so far.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THOUGHTS THAT HAVE STOOD OUT TO ME DURING THE CONFERENCES AND PRAYER MEETINGS:

  1. During this next season, believers must begin to cultivate eternal mindsets and put away worldly mindsets.
  2. The next season will be about deliverance. Like repentance, deliverance is more about what you are moving toward than what you are moving away from. In fact, you will never be delivered until you have a firm vision of what you are getting in place of what you are giving up, and until you believe that what you are getting is better than what you are leaving behind.
Photo by Josh Hild on Pexels.com

3. Our congregation must begin to cultivate an abundance mindset in place of a scarcity mindset.

WHAT YOU THINK DETERMINES WHAT YOU SEE. WHAT YOU SEE DETERMINES WHAT YOU DO. WHAT YOU DO DETERMINES WHAT YOU GET.

REMEMBER YOU ARE WORTHY OF SUCCESS. SUCCESS IS STORED UP BEFORE IT SHOWS UP. LIFE HAPPENS FOR YOU NOT TO YOU. PERSONAL GROWTH EVOLVES INTO ABUNDANCE.

PROCRASTINATION COMES FROM SCARCITY. ANTICIPATION COMES FROM ABUNDANCE.

4. Your conflicts may be the key to unlocking your peace.

5. Life will bring you people and circumstances to reveal to you where you are not free yet.

6. Conflicts start inside our hearts not outside, but we spend most of our time trying to change what’s outside.

I  have also accomplished several personal and ministry goals during this season including:

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    Sermon planning for 2025 and 2026 (though there is a lot more work to do here)

    filling out and sending in my ordination paperwork.

    Photo by Antoni Shkraba on Pexels.com

    Reviewing staff budgets and submitting my personal budget for FY 2025.

    Winterizing the chicken coop (though honestly this was mostly Kristine)

    I removed the air conditioners from the windows at the Vicarage and started planning the steps to winterization. I also started bringing in some herbs for the winter for a window garden and planning the gardens for next year.

    So far I have had one fire to burn brush….there are many more fires to have throughout the winter.

    Yesterday, I took a couple of hours to mix and mingle at Winchendon’s annual Fall Fest. This event made Me feel like I was living in a Hallmark movie.

    Amanda, Joe, Kristine, Sevy and I met up with our friend Paula and her granddaughter Leila and went down to visit the 205 vendors set up on Central St. Fairs are my kryptonite. I can end up buying a lot of things I don’t need, so having strong people around me to curb the buying frenzy is essential.

    The town was mobbed!…milling and seething through the mob was like mixing it up at a family house party. I ran into Denise and her granddaughters who I hadn’t seen since the oldest grandy was probably three (she is now thirteen). I saw Walter and chatted with Andy at the Fidelity Ice Cream cart. I hugged several Rathier children and stopped at the Rathier/ Lambert booth.I checked in with Tamie about her husband Brian who had knee surgery recently, and planned a coffee date with Father Henry when I stopped at The Immaculate Heart Booth. I stopped at Nancy’s fudge booth and caught up a bit with her while earnestly resisting the desire to buy a case of her homemade fudge.

    Actually, as you can see from the picture above, there was plenty to buy. I did well. I tried some of the leftover pies from the pie baking contest when I checked in on my daughter Melanie. I also bought a sourdough pretzel with cheese sauce from her booth (Winchendon Parks and Rec). And…

    I bought these books for a donation to the local library…..and

    this new walking stick to replace the one I lost at Kimball’s Farm.

    What made my heart most glad about this festival, though, were the number of people from our congregation who were working for different town booths our just attending the fall festival. I met some of the members of my son’s Gideons outpost. I saw our friends and neighbors the Ash-Sears family and we said hello to our friends the O’Briens. As I walked up and down the street with my new walking stick..I was struck by the richness and depth of relationship I felt flowing through our little community. I am not sure if the change is in me, in our community or in both of us. All I know is it was a wonderful day in the midst of this wonderful sabbatical.

    A DEFINITELY DIFFERENT SABBATICAL

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    Today I am thinking about how different this sabbatical is from my last one.

    FIRST THE SEASON IS DIFFERENT.

    My last sabbatical was in the summer…. August as I remember. I spent a lot of time sitting on my front porch and praying. I didn’t have a garden, so aside from mowing the lawn I did little yard work. This sabbatical is an autumn sabbatical. It has been too cold to sit on my front porch to pray, and the fall is a more busy season around the Vicarage anyway. I have a list as long as my arm to accomplish before winter: Gardens to harvest and clean, bulbs to get in the ground for next year’s flower garden, windows and doors to plastic, a chicken coop to winterize, herbs to dig up and move into the house for a window garden over the winter, and a house fall cleaning to finish up.

    SECOND THE VICARAGE IS DIFFERENT

    We were just at the tail end of construction on the Vicarage last time. I remember being frustrated that we had to have the outside pipes dug up because a root had grown through one of them and the deconstruction of the front porch exacerbated the problem causing our cellar to fill with waste. This time around the Vicarage is definitely more settled. We are in maintenance mode, not project mode.

    The social atmosphere of the Vicarage is different too. Back in 2022 it was me, Amanda and Mom living in the house. Amanda was at work most of the time and Mom was just starting with Ibis Health a chronic care health agency. It was the beginning of our season of eye to eye caregiving. Mom could no longer be alone and we were just figuring out how to make all that happen. We had only just hired Sunday help so I used Sundays as my breakaway day instead of going to any church as it was really the only time I could get away from The Vicarage.

    This year it is me Amanda, Joe, Kristine and Sevy. We are still grieving Mom’s passing last April. In some ways, I feel like with everything else going on this year, I haven’t really begun grieving her loss. Having a two year old in the house definitely changes the dynamic energy of the house, and just this month Joe and Kristine had a bid accepted on a condo so now we are in the throes of preparing for their move on November 1st.

    THIRD THE PATHWAY IS DIFFERENT

    Photo by Serkan Bayraktar on Pexels.com

    In my last sabbatical I had a list of questions to pray through and I met with a mentor twice to discuss and coach around my thinking about these questions. This time around as hard as I tried to find a coach or mentor none of those I approached were able to accommodate. Instead God has set up several conferences for me to attend through the month and instead of questions I have been a list of tasks I need to accomplish before I return to a “normal” ministry schedule. Some of these tasks are personal, some are professional but they all are causing me to think about what the future should look like from God’s perspective.

    The world is changing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my methodology of visioning for that change also needs to change. But I have to admit I am a bit surprised.

    ARE YOU SURPRISED BY CHANGES YOU ARE GOING THROUGH?