Sara Milford To Begin Sabbatical – May 12 through August 10
With great gratitude I anticipate my upcoming sabbatical, which will be May 12th-August 10th. After serving as a priest for ten years, this will be my first sabbatical, and my intent is to be restored, spend time with family, and connect deeply with God. Daily prayer doesn't go away, even and especially on sabbatical! While some are aware of my specific plans for this time apart, I want to share with everyone so we can share in prayer this season for myself, my family, and St. Paul's.
As far as plans go, I will spend the rest of May at home with family. Our youngest daughter Autumn will graduate May 17th from high school, and our older two children will also be home for the weekend. What joy to have all four kids home together (plus a couple of significant others)! I have heard it takes about two weeks of being off work to shift gears, and aside from graduation, there will also be plenty of time spent catching up on neglected chores around our home, inside and out. We plan to put our house on the market this summer, so there's that, too!
While my husband keeps the dogs company at home and our youngest continues swimming, I will take a solo trip to Europe, leaving June 6. The first two weeks will be in Germany with a long-time friend who lives in Bayreuth. We may join her church on a pilgrimage to Taizé, France, for the first week, and the second week will be spent in an apartment just outside Munich near a lake and a monastery; the apartment will be our home base for day trips to wherever we want to go. From Munich I will fly to London for a few days of tourist-ing before I rent a car (an automatic with GPS!) and drive around England: to Canterbury and Dover, to Stonehenge, Stratford, Cambridge, Norwich, and Ripon. The benefit of driving is that I can meander to cathedrals and attractions, and traveling solo also means I can take advantage of quirky things like champing (yes, I'll spend three nights in three different churches)! After exploring Fountains Abbey I'll make my way to Glasgow, Scotland, where I'll return the car, take a train to Oban and stay the night before making my way by train and ferry to Iona. After a week's personal retreat of writing and worship, I'll head to Edinburgh for a three-night stay before flying home on July 11-12. To say I am excited about this adventure is an understatement, and all that others have shared about their travels has inspired me.
With a month before returning to church work, I intend to spend some time with my mother, meeting more of her family and taking her to the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. We learned that my mother was adopted late in her life, so there is much of her family whom I do not know. Both her birth mother and her adopted mother were Cherokee, and it feels important for me to learn more about our family stories.
In my remaining free time at home, I hope to enjoy leisurely mornings, float in the pool, and cook and eat delicious meals. I know I will look forward to being back with you all, and I definitely know I look forward to moving to Fayetteville sooner than later. Many plans and reservations are made for this sabbatical, but much is still available for Spirit to take the lead. All shall be well, and I thank you all in advance--especially Evan!--for this incredible opportunity.