As Jack Nicholson would say...

For some reason I can't say the words, "I'm back," without picturing the movie, The Shining. Creepy, right? So although I don't want to produce nightmares for anyone, I do want to jump back into life (and the virtual life of social media) with a bang, (sorta)!

Speaking of social media, probably one of the weirdest things about my sabbatical was #1-the weird reality of being disconnected from knowing what's up through status updates and pictures (I have no idea who's dating, engaged, or pregnant right now) and #2-the realization that checking status updates and pictures actually results in disconnection from reality. Probably not the most profound ah-ha moment but something I'm hoping will look different in my "post-sabbatical" life. With time on Facebook I had time to do many other creative things (which I will share in the coming weeks as I blog).  It's September first and I haven't logged into Facebook, yet. I'm still going to give it a few days. I'm considering some margin around how I utilize Facebook in the future, but still haven't come to any conclusions yet. However, I've jumped back into Twitter, it's much more low maintenance, as I expected, and I like that!

That leads me to my next realization from my summer off. Sabbatical was NOT what I expected. I thought I had no expectations, or tried not to have any, but I guess subconsciously I had a huge list and it quickly became evident that God was leading me in a different summer than the one I had in mind.  I learned an incredible amount about myself and life as a husband and father. I had an amazing time with my family, and had major moments of experiencing God on the way. I especially experienced a lot of humbling and conviction. look forward to sharing those lessons learned through out September as I wade back into life in Redwood City and with our PCC family.

So, unlike Jack in the Shining, I'm not going to be yelling and screaming my way back into community, but I'm taking my time to find my place again. It feels like the first day of school. I have an excited "butterflies in my stomach feeling," craving to hear how every one's summer went, and wishing I had a new backpack. So if you see me around let's swap summer vacation stories and get stoked for what's upcoming on the our fall syllabuses, or syllabi, whatever you prefer.