Sabbathing

One of the most valuable parts of my internship has been feedback from, and interaction with, my advisory committee. There are seven people on mine, which I think is pretty standard. Four men, three women, these people are a pretty good cross-section of the congregation in terms of age, occupations, gender/sexual preferences, and ethnicity. One member in particular has been sort of my "watchdog" on a particular goal - work/life balance. Our families know each other from UU things outside our respective churches - fun, family things - our daughters are close in age and attended youth cons together... so M keeps an eye on how my internship is affecting family. And, I'm grateful for it.

Because it's a reminder, each month when I prepare a report on my activities for this group, that I will be asked "What are you doing to take care of yourself?" Or, "when was the last time you and (dh) went out to do something fun?"

This month I will have much to report! We have purchased tickets to three plays, and the first is next weekend. For this, I thank my dh's frugal nature. You see, we gave the dh's parents "an evening at the theatre with us" for Christmas, along with the schedule for the city's repertory theatre. They've enjoyed theatre & ballet subscriptions in the past - but are wary of driving after dark these days. When we checked the costs, it turned out that buying half-season series matinee for four was only slightly more expensive than four prime-time tickets for one play. I'm so looking forward to enjoying live theatre again!

Later this month, the dh & I will be vacationing for a few days - time away from our respective stressful jobs, in a place we've never been. I'm looking forward to that, too.

But, I've made one other change, for my sanity. I've been trying to have a day off - Fridays I don't go into the office - but I usually end up working on something from home, whether it's emails to church people or finishing a sermon. So, now, on Sundays, I'm not checking email, reading blogs, or even turning my computer on. I'm already working Sundays (most of them), so I'm not taking the laptop with me to work (even if I have an afternoon meeting) and I'm not looking at it when I manage to get home. I'm carving a little bit of Sabbath out of my Sunday work day - and a bit here and there throughout the week, too. And on a day like yesterday - where I arrived at church at 8am and didn't get home 'til around 7pm (even with the generous lunch break) - just knowing it was my day away from the 'puter was a big relief. Mixed with a little anxiety, too - I love checking blogs and news sources - but mostly relief.

Since I'm just figuring this stuff out - hey, I was home with kids for 20 years - I'm wondering... How do you do self-care, or sabbath, particularly if you're in (or studying for) ministry?