I suspect you will be hearing stories from these last three months for years to come, but I wanted to record something of my sabbatical experience for you. I am just so honored and privileged that all of you made this time possible for me, and for our family.

Everywhere we went, as I explained the story of being given this sabbatical by our church family, people were so amazed and impressed that a congregation would exhibit such generosity and vision in “taking care” of their pastor. So am I!

June 25-July 10
Extended family celebrations
Both Anne’s parents and Dan’s celebrated 50th wedding anniversaries in June. We are so proud of them both! We spent three wonderful days at Lake Chelan with Anne’s family, golfing, watersliding and hanging out together. Then a few days later, all of Dan’s family gathered up on Whidbey Island. The kids innertubed and skied, we fished and crabbed and walked the beach.

For both of the family weekends, Anne produced T-shirts for everyone with a logo on the front, and a giant picture of the honored 50-year couple on the back. In each location, everyone in our party wore them to a restaurant for dinner. Lots of funny conversations as people gawked and asked questions!

July 12-Aug 2
Our family trip to DC and London
Wow. I’m not sure what else to say! This was the trip of a lifetime, while everyone was still together. It was just an amazing time that all of us are still talking about.

Three quick days in muggy Washington, DC, perhaps highlighted by a day at the Holocaust Museum, or our private “after hours” tour of the West Wing of the White House (arranged by a Bethany friend with connections!). The Rose Garden, presidential press conference room, meeting rooms and even the Oval Office —we didn’t walk in, nor was the president there, but all doors were open and my head, at least, made it in to look!

Next was a solid two and one half weeks in London, most of that time staying in a Central London flat just five minutes from Buckingham Palace and ten from Westminster Abbey. The leisure of such a long stay allowed us to see so many things that I could never list them all, and at a pace we all loved. And the fact that our kids are old enough to be out on their own meant we could split up and pursue different interests.

We took in shows, museums, movies, hung out in the parks, visited churches, and exercised a lot. We studied up on the sport of cricket and talked soccer with taxi drivers. We also spent one day in Cambridge, another at Oxford, and yet another meeting up with Barbie Kelly and kids at the home of family friends in the English countryside, one of our favorite days of all.

The terrorist bombings on the London subway happened the week before we arrived, which was very sobering. We used the subway for the first week we were there, until the second incident, the failed follow-up bombing spree. After that we did a lot of walking and took a few extra taxis.

It was fine, and the walking even allowed us to experience parts of the city we would not have otherwise. It was an interesting time to be there, as every day another twist unfolded in the pursuit of the terrorists and the whole nation was focused on it. The day we left London there were 6,000 armed policemen in Central London…as opposed to no armed police just weeks before.

Aug 5- 20 and various other days
Whidbey Island
I spent most of this time at our place on Whidbey, with Anne and the kids coming and going a bit. Several weeks I was there with no car: just my bike, dog and kayak! I did a lot of reading, got tons of exercise (run, bike, beachwalk, kayak) and did a significant amount of writing.

One dear friend and neighbor at Whidbey caught me coming back from the beach one day in my sandals, shorts, no shirt, a baseball hat with a newspaper and books under my arm and a week’s growth of beard on my face and said, “Dan! You’re a beach bum!” Yep.

I am accumulating several dozen short and true stories from life and ministry into a collection I’ve called The Slow Way of God. The title comes from a poem, and has to do with the fact that God so often meets us in the ordinary, slow routines of life…if we pay attention. Will I try to publish it? I have no idea, but it’s been very fun to work on and provided some nice “closure” to 100 scraps of paper with “ideas” that I’ve stuck in a file for years to write up “some day.”

Aug 23-26
North Carolina
Anne and I traveled to Chapel Hill, NC, to take our oldest son Jesse back to start college at UNC. It was wonderful; it was hard. We laughed ourselves silly during packing and shopping to set up his dorm room; we cried at farewell, and continue to periodically tear up as we adapt to this new chapter of life. It was hard to see Jesse, Nick and Dana say goodbye to each other as well. However, by all reports Jesse is thriving and having a great start to his freshman year.

Sept
Seattle
Dana (8th grade, McClure), Nick (junior, Garfield HS) and Anne (teaching at Coe and SPU) all got ready to go back to school. I got to be the support person, tutor, golf fan, soccer fan and carpool driver!

Sept 11-21
Mentor Trips to visit three people
who have strongly influenced me
Wherever the idea to do this came from, it turned out to be a spectacular one! It far exceeded any expectations I might have had. I spent three days in Pasadena, CA, with Dale Bruner and his amazing wife Kathy. Dale was a New Testament prof at Whitworth for years, and is a fine theologian, teacher and writer. We walked to his current study locale at Fuller Seminary each morning, met again at lunch and spent evenings together in their home. Great conversations on the Bible, theology, our PCUSA denomination and the Holy Spirit.

Next stop: Flathead Lake, Montana, near Kalispell, and home of none other than Steve Lympus! I spent three very significant mornings with Eugene Peterson, pastor and author. We spent the first morning on a mountain hiking and the next two in his study. His wife Jan is a wonderful cook, hostess and person. These times were very precious, again with conversation ranging over a wide variety of topics: Bible, theology, a great deal on pastoring and church communities.

Final stop, and Anne was able to join me for this one: Orange City, Iowa, where Bruce and Di Murphy live. Bruce was pastor at Bethany for seven years, and is now the President of Northwestern College in Orange City. Bruce and Di invited us into their lives, and the life of their school in every conceivable way. It was just a delight. Bruce set aside a couple hours each morning to spend with me in conversation and prayer, often around the topics of leadership and the church. Anne and I were also able to explore the area, which meant a lot of cornfields, small towns, late summer heat…and the headquarters for Blue Bunny Ice Cream!

I continue to be so blessed by the richness of each of these three times. In each case, these folks gave me far more time, attention and welcome than we had ever discussed. I was welcomed into their homes and lives and left feeling like I had truly been with good friends. Apart from the wonderful conversations, all three men live with such humility and authenticity, it was an education just to be in their world a bit. And finally it was nice to see that one of the major things that allows Dale, Eugene and Bruce to be who they are and do what they do…is the partnership of strong and faithful spouses who clearly keep them on the straight and narrow!

Sept 22-Oct 3
Seattle
Finishing up some writing pieces, reading and house projects, as well as getting a little antsy to get back to Bethany.

Again, my deep thanks to each of you for helping bring this all about. And thanks to Bethany’s wonderful staff and leadership for picking up extra work in my absence with grace and care. I am more rested and relaxed than I ever remember being in my adult life!

The one word that sums this unique time has been “long.” Long walks, long bike rides, long days reading on the beach, long times with our family, long times to be with Anne, long spaces to write and reflect and pray. What a contrast to how easily my normal life gets submerged into short and choppy pieces!

If you are interested, see my sabbatical reading list, and the places we were able to worship this summer.