In the midst of stress, I cannot stress enough the value of hitting the pause button on stress. The deadline to apply for a renewal leave is once again approaching, and I write to share part of my story and encourage you to apply today.

Journey back with me to the first week of my renewal leave in early 2025. I’d been going a mile a minute for so long that I didn’t quite know what to do with myself. One day, I wandered into my spouse’s home office and stood there. “…Yes?” she asked. “I’m kinda tired,” I said. She just looked at me. “Maybe I’ll go lie down?” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you asking me for permission to take a nap?! Just take a nap! That’s part of what this renewal leave is for!”

She was right, of course. Renewal leave gave me many opportunities to try on a variety of rhythms for holistic, healthy living. Instead of running the hamster wheel of working every day and most every night, I took more time to pause and intentionally do nothing, or catch up on that full night’s sleep trend I’ve heard so much about! I also found energy to try out more physically demanding activities that I’d been too tired for before. I took more walks, even in the cold of winter. I toured the Science Museum of Minnesota for hours several times with our kids, thanks to a gift membership from our church for Clergy Appreciation Month.

Through the renewal formational grant, I escalated this holistic restorative care. The grant got me to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for a lecture by Dr. Rev. Lovett Weems, a week living on campus for a silent prayer retreat, and a walking tour of several cinematic sights, from the shopping mall where they shot the zombie movie classic, Dawn of the Dead, to the unique townhome street at the center of the Tom Hanks film, A Man Called Otto.

The grant gave our family the financial boost we needed to finally afford a trip to Disneyland, a destination once only in our dreams. If you want physical activity, nothing quite beats the excitement of getting your steps in (and then some!) as you show up for “rope drop” before the park opens and beeline your way to finally see the Millennium Falcon ship from Star Wars.

Movies not your thing? The grant also enabled me to spend a week in New Mexico on retreat with a dozen clergy from across the US with Chrysalis Counseling for Clergy, a ministry led by a United Methodist deacon. We rested, we prayed, we shared, and we hiked peaceful mountain paths whose natural silence sang music to my ears. This retreat also gave me a free day to meditate and pray in the sacred seclusion of the Center for Action and Contemplation, spending time under the “Trinity Tree” where Father Richard Rohr often prays, as well. I was in God’s country, friends.

If you are newly eligible for a renewal leave, or if you’re like me and you put it off for far too long, it’s time to set the wheels in motion and apply. Every season you let slip past you is one less season of opportunity to make use of this blessing of a benefit. And by God’s grace, it won’t just benefit you, but your family and your church, as well.

The deserts of New Mexico are calling you!

Or, perhaps Disneyland…

Find more information about renewal leaves and pastoral coverage towards the bottom of the Whole + Holy webpage in the Dakotas here by clicking on the Mental/Emotional well-being tab.