Letting Go…The Sabbatical Blog

Today marks the first day that I haven’t had a job since I was 11 years old. Seriously. I received my first paycheck working for our family’s business in 1986 when I was 11 (I actually worked prior to that – just didn’t get paid!) If you calculated correctly, that means I’m 33 years old. So…no, I haven’t retired, and it’s not really a life crisis either. For many reasons, which I’ll certainly cover throughout my first attempt at blogging, I resigned from my VP-level job for a large company. I (somewhat jokingly) have been calling it a sabbatical. So, I looked up the definition of “sabbatical” on Wikipedia:

“A sabbatical (from the Latin sabbaticus, from the Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbathon, i.e., Sabbath) is a rest from work, a hiatus, typically 2 months plus. The concept of a sabbatical has a source in several places in the Bible (Leviticus 25, for example), where there is a commandment to desist from working the fields in the seventh year. In the strict sense therefore, a sabbatical lasts a year. In recent times, a sabbatical has come to mean any extended absence in the career of an individual.”

It surprised me to find out that sabbatical is exactly the right word. It also surprised me that this hiatus is actually a Biblical concept. Which really shouldn’t shock me since I have felt God leading me to this exact place. He is amazingly consistent with His word, huh?

The past year has been one of personal and spiritual growth for me. God is leading me to a place of dependence on Him. I’m learning that my worth is not tied to my career, my accomplishments, or my ability to be a good daughter/friend/Christian. He is teaching me about letting go. Thus, one of my new favorite songs is “I’m Letting Go” by Francesca Battistelli because it describes exactly what I’m learning (and it has a really catchy tune which gets stuck in my head):

I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
Losing control
Of my destiny
Feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go
This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace
The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

So, at the end of my first day as an unemployed woman…I still have a lot to learn. Right now, I feel like a kid who is skipping school, who at any moment will get grabbed by the collar and dragged back through those doors. However, I am also comforted by:

• knowing that I’m not doing anything wrong
• recognizing that this is the exact place where God wants me right now; and
• most importantly, believing that my Jesus is more than enough.