Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pilgrim's Road Trip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/files\/2011\/09\/ima26327-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michelle Van Loon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michelle Van Loon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/\",\"name\":\"Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#\/schema\/person\/d2eb5ce9dc11a89e961d3077629446cc\"},\"description\":\"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shelf time – Part 2\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/\",\"name\":\"Pilgrim's Road Trip\",\"description\":\"Schlepping Toward Glory\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#\/schema\/person\/d2eb5ce9dc11a89e961d3077629446cc\",\"name\":\"Michelle Van Loon\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/author\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip","description":"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip","og_description":"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/","og_site_name":"Pilgrim's Road Trip","article_published_time":"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/files\/2011\/09\/ima26327-1.jpg"}],"author":"Michelle Van Loon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michelle Van Loon","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/","name":"Shelf time - Part 2 - Pilgrim's Road Trip","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-30T19:49:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#\/schema\/person\/d2eb5ce9dc11a89e961d3077629446cc"},"description":"Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shelf time – Part 2"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/","name":"Pilgrim's Road Trip","description":"Schlepping Toward Glory","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/#\/schema\/person\/d2eb5ce9dc11a89e961d3077629446cc","name":"Michelle Van Loon","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/author\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1449"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":603,"date":"2011-09-30T13:49:32","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T19:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellevanloon.com\/?p=603"},"modified":"2011-09-30T13:49:32","modified_gmt":"2011-09-30T19:49:32","slug":"shelf-time-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pilgrimsroadtrip\/2011\/09\/shelf-time-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelf time – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Have you ever been shelved after a period of active ministry? Click here<\/a> to read my post from earlier this week discussing some of the reasons this may happen.<\/p>\n

How can God\u2019s kingdom be advanced if I am sitting \u201cuseless\u201d on the shelf?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I hope you can hear the out-of-bounds pride at the root of that question. During my own shelf time, I will confess that I entertained thoughts like this. As if God was depending on me to save the world!<\/p>\n

Besides exposing my pride in what I could accomplish for God (an unpleasant discovery, to say the least!), my place of ministry \u201cuselessness\u201d was a crucible where other long-ignored issues in my life bubbled to the surface. The biggest one? I didn\u2019t know how to really, truly rest in my identity in Christ. Though I understood I was saved by His grace, I\u2019d lived as if I needed to work (and work and work) to gain His love and the acceptance and friendship of my Christian family. Every Martha neuron inside of me fired like a machine gun: Go! Do! My busyness was masking a much deeper problem in my soul.<\/p>\n

My empty planner was a tutorial in healthy ministry motivation. It taught me that much of what I called \u201cministry\u201d was self-serving, rooted in my need for the approval of others rather than flowing out of my relationship with Christ. There was no place on the shelf to hide from the truth about my neediness. Christ invited me there so I could re-learn what it meant for ministry to flow out of my relationship with Christ, a by-product of that relationship instead of some sort of emotional reward for my performance.<\/p>\n

Shelf time is a kind of a magnifying mirror, allowing us to have an up-close look at our motivations for ministry. It is important to note that some who end up on the shelf may be there after a harsh church experience where their motivations have been questioned, gossiped about or misunderstood. In those circumstances, it may be difficult to gain healthy perspective on your own motivations without the help of a trusted friend or spiritual counselor.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though the shelf is a quiet, safe place to reflect and experience transition, our Master Potter can also use it to repurpose our lives. He is asking us to surrender to who He is and what He is doing in our lives here and now.<\/p>\n

Some who are shelved may try to leap off the shelf into the recreation of a past position of authority. That\u2019s what I wanted. I\u2019d hoped for a tidy, victorious ending for my shelf time. For a long time \u2013 too long, I\u2019m sorry to admit \u2013 I\u2019d hoped I\u2019d be able to tell people that my sabbatical was finished, and I was back in leadership, healthier than ever!<\/p>\n

Getting back into a leadership position was not the point. Change was.<\/p>\n

Devotional author Os Chambers said, \u201cWe have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counselor Dr. Beverly Smallwood notes the need to ask new questions in the midst of a process as disorienting as shelf time:\u00a0 \u201cThe perception of lost opportunities is at the root of some of the deepest of grief. Acknowledge to yourself that it\u2019s true: some opportunities have passed. Feel the sadness of that. Write about it. Talk with a trusted friend about it. Then ask yourself, \u2018What have I learned? And what are the implications of that for my life today? Are there people in my life who need what I have to give?\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>I\u2019m a different person than I was when I was placed on the shelf several years ago. My passions are continuing to be purified. God has brought fresh purpose into my life. As He\u2019s pulled me off of the shelf, He\u2019s launched my service to Him and to others in some surprising new directions.<\/p>\n

However, the shelf continues to be a mirror, a surgeon\u2019s table, and a refinery for me. I\u2019ve learned to periodically choose to return to the shelf, taking time away to pray, to write, to practice the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence, and to connect with a couple of trusted friends who are willing to challenge me to continue to live out the things I learned during those \u201cuseless\u201d years. The shelf is custom-designed by the Father to be for us a place of safety, truth and transformation. I remember there that my identity is not found in what I do in the body of Christ.<\/p>\n

Dr. Larry Crabb captures the message the shelf is meant to communicate to us: \u201cWe are not our problems. We are not our wounds. We are not our sins. We are persons of radical worth and unrevealed beauty. If we face ourselves fully, we will be broken by what we see, by the selfishness and fear and rage and lust that cover our spiritual beauty like tarnish on silver. But the silver is there. Something brilliant and intact gleams through the stain of our brokenness.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that something may be uncovered by the Lover of our souls only if we are shelved.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever been shelved, what have you learned from the experience?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"