Noël and I continue to be deeply thankful to our family at Bethlehem for the gift of these months away. You may recall my explanation for the leave where we said there were three components: soul, marriage and family, and vocational. Each needed a reality check. And of course they are interrelated.

On the soul front, we continue to probe the roots of our most characteristic sins with a view to confessing them and repenting and seeking God’s transforming power through prayer and Bible-saturated counsel. Extended time in prayer and the word is part of this focus.

On the marriage and family front, we are spending much more time than usual talking with each other and connecting with our children, grandchildren, and wider family.

On the vocational front, we are finding that we do love Jesus more than we love serving Jesus. And we really love serving Jesus, especially at Bethlehem, and are eagerly looking forward to being back. We have not given much thought yet to the pace and pattern of the post-leave ministry. That will come in the latter months of the leave. Soul and family have priority for now.