By Kat Silverglate © 2026
This is the true story of Nebraska employment lawyer Mark Fahleson whose identity was wrested away from the clutches of work during a 90-day sabbatical. Flashes of the events, shared by him contemporaneously on LinkedIn, need only a few flourishes to bring you to the heart of his journey: an easel to set the stage; minimal framing to set the context; dashes of color to fill white canvas gaps, and a nail on which you might hang it in the gallery of your one ridiculous life.
The Easel: To Wrest
Wrest: a verb from Middle English wresten, "turn or twist about, extricate oneself; struggle, fight;" from Old English wræstan "to twist, wrench…" etymonline.com/word/wrest
The Frame: A Brief History and Laugh Out Loud Family Motto
He grew up on a small Nebraska farm. At 12-years-old, Mark took out a 16% loan to buy his first heifer and then bailed hay, walked beans and did anything else that came his way to pay off the loan. That investment would grow into a herd that he would later sell to pay for law school.
“I went to a rural high school. Most of these kids grew up on farms. And I’m biased, but I’ll tell you what, these Nebraska farm kids just work. They work their tails off and don’t complain about it. It’s just an expectation, so I saw them and I admired them greatly. I wanted to be like them when I grew up.”
An agriculture major in college graduating when the Ag economy was at an all-time low, he became, what he calls, “an accidental lawyer.”
“My roommate was taking the law school entrance exam so I decided to give it a try and got in at Nebraska Law. It was a God-thing. I loved law school.”
He clerked for a Nebraska Supreme Court Justice and then ended up with his bride in Washington, DC where he served as Chief of Staff for a member of Congress. When the first of three daughters was incubating Mrs. Fahleson’s womb, they moved close to family in Nebraska. He’s been at the same law firm practicing labor & employment law since 1997.
“I’m an anxious person and always have been. That’s something I have to and need to work on. I married a woman who is very much the same way. Our family motto is -- I kid you not -- “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.” We go pretty hard. Growing up, rest and vacations had a negative connotation for me. There’s a phrase – life is a marathon, not a sprint. Unfortunately, the first 2/3 of my life I lived like it was a sprint. Then I hit the wall.”
He had climbed many of the celebrated rungs on the “ladder” of highly successful Nebraska lawyer life. Marriage. Kids. Law firm partner. Awards. House owner. Farm owner. Herd owner. Approaching empty nest, he started to ask, “what’s next?” “Is this it?” He was experiencing what the Book of Ecclesiastes calls a feeling like he had been “chasing after the wind.” A feeling that falls on us when producing or striving becomes synonymous with identity. When what you’ve done or what you do defines who you are.
“I struggled with the concept of contentment. My wife, who is very grounded, would preach to me about the Apostle Paul and what it means to be content. I talked to others who said contentment isn’t the same as complacency. Where was I between those two states – contentment and complacency? I started to read a ton about this question.”
As God would have it, Harbour Ministries - an organization in the town where Mark lives - operates a national ministry that invites individuals who are facing this same question to come together in cohorts and discuss it through a biblical lens. The men’s program was called ROGUE. So, he went rogue. And it helped him realize that the rungs on the ladder of success had nothing to do with contentment. “They never lead to contentment. That’s not where it comes from.”
For years he’d been working to get his firm to adopt a sabbatical policy.
“I didn’t want to be the first one to benefit from it, but I wanted to help create the opportunity. They adopted it in 2020. I was the second lawyer to take a few months away from work. I though it was going to be awesome, but…”
The Canvas: Mark’s Condensed Sabbatical Story from His LinkedIn Posts with Splashes of Color
Sabbatical Day One: May 15, 2023 LinkedIn Post – 2010 is a Long Time Ago:
I'm blessed to work at Rembolt Ludtke LLP, which has a 90-day sabbatical policy for partners. I'm a huge proponent of sabbaticals, which benefit the individual and the organization. I've known for a couple of years that 2023 was my… year. So then why… have I dragged my heels to plan and start this…? …[O]ne thing I know for certain: I need to start…by disconnecting... 2010 was the last time I completely disconnected for… longer than 48 hours… I had little choice--I was on a family vacation in Ireland and the cost of international cell service and roaming at the time was astronomical. So… [this first week of my sabbatical] I booked a great place to stay… in scenic remote Wyoming. The best part? No cell service. #sabbatical #disconnect #lawpractice
Sabbatical Day 15: May 29, 2023 LinkedIn Post – The Cold Turkey Cliff:
Yes, I intentionally went to a remote area… by myself to avoid cell and internet service… [A]fter just a day I discovered that the "wedding barn" that I was staying at had WiFi. Really good WiFi. Which led me to… do what I've done virtually every day the past 25+ years--I started working. I'm told my assistant counted 150 e-mails I sent during the first 2 days. I'm calling [nonsense] on that (maybe 90 e-mails tops)… I had the option of having my e-mail being completely shut off… but… I wasn't ready to go "cold turkey"… Frankly, I couldn't do it. That would be a "cliff" I wasn't prepared to jump from… A sabbatical is a ramp, not a cliff… Stay tuned
Sabbatical Day 34: June 18, 2023 LinkedIn Post – 270 Mulch Bags and 20 Acres:
I’ve always had a hard time relaxing. Always. As a kid, I would fill open blocks of time with as many activities as I could… When open gaps… occurred, I found things to do on our farm to keep me busy… This industriousness (restlessness?) has followed me through adulthood. Last year I joined my wife for a “couples massage” at a resort. Never had a massage before. I hated it. My mind raced with lists of things to do and I couldn’t relax. This feeling also helps explain why I have a really hard time committing to a full round of golf. That’s lots of time that could be used in more productive ways.
This sabbatical got off to a bit of a rocky start. After a slight “intervention” from my [firm], I committed to reducing… That, of course, left a gap. How best to fill it… ? Physical labor [or course]! Providence delivered a project for me that fit the bill. Our yard requires lots of mulch…. So, [after] a dump truck arrived… with the equivalent of 270 bags of garden store mulch… I scooped, …carted it, [and] spread it, all while listening to a batch of podcasts. Each day I notched 20,000+ steps on my watch, and ended with a cold adult beverage and physically exhausted… I followed that up with a fencing project at the small farm we own… I, with the help of a friend, divided 20 acres into several paddocks, which required us to pound in bundles of fence posts to create… smaller pastures. My body hurt and I was dead tired… but I could see the finished project with a sense of accomplishment. Takeaway: there is merit to incorporating… labor… that’s physically strenuous enough to take your mind completely off the vocation you are taking a break from.
Sabbatical Day 43: June 26, 2023 – The Striver’s Curse:
I read countless… [writings] on “how to take a sabbatical.” [Reading, they said, was key]. The [nonfiction book] I tackled first was “From Strength to Strength” by Arthur C. Brooks. While not a religious book, the title comes from Psalm 84:5-7… Brooks borrows heavily from the insights of the Apostle Paul, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas in addition to stoic philosophers. The impetus for the book was a conversation… he overheard… on a redeye flight… which sounded to Brooks to be between an elderly couple. [It] involved what he assumed was the wife trying to convince her husband that it wasn’t true that he was [all] washed up. Listening… Brooks envisioned the man was someone who had worked his entire life in relative obscurity, was disappointed in dreams unfilled, and possibly was someone whose career ended with no fanfare and little to show for it. When the plane landed, Brooks … says “I finally got a look at the desolate man. I was shocked: I recognized him—he was well-known; famous, even. Then in his mid-eighties, he has been universally beloved as a hero for his courage, patriotism, and accomplishments of many decades ago. I have admired him since I was young.” [It made] Brooks… examine his own life, even pulling out a professional goal list he had prepared nearly a decade prior, [concluding then] he would truly be happy and fulfilled if he met every goal on the list. By age 48 he had met or exceeded all of them yet found himself unfulfilled. He describes this as the “striver’s curse…” Was there any way, [he asks], to get off the hamster wheel of success and accept inevitable professional decline with grace? Maybe even turn it into opportunity? I guess we'll see…. Now off to tackle my next work of fiction: The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton.
Sabbatical Day 49: July 3, 2023 – My Obituary:
…I've reflected on what kind of life I want to lead for the remainder of my… time on Earth. Relatively speaking, there's not much time left. To put it in perspective, I took the advice of Arthur C. Brooks by asking myself, "How many Thanksgivings do I have left?" As a 56 year-old dude with poor family genetics, a reasonable estimate would be twelve… or fewer. 12 years. To date, much of my life has been defined by my work and working hard. No matter the room, I'm never the smartest person in it. I've been able to make do by working harder than those smarter than me. Grind, and when that doesn't work, grind harder. That got me through law school, and got me to the point in my career I now find myself... But it's unsustainable… [and] brings little joy. A common… [perspective] exercise… is to write your obituary. I've done that… [M]y obit will not reference a single organization, award or accomplishment… and will be REALLY short… Following some photo taken of me in 1999 (sans gray hair) and my date of birth and death it will read: He loved his wife, his daughters and, first and foremost, God. … what the heck am I doing chasing worldly success?... [OK, maybe] I need to cut myself some slack. My primary motivations for… so many hours… have been [good]: (a) to be able to pay for my daughters to attend college (a luxury I didn't have…); and (b) Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" … I want to spend the next 12 or so years… striving to become… in the words of the late Clayton Christensen, "a man who doesn't just believe in God but who believes God.” I've got lots and lots of work to do…
Sabbatical Day 57: July 9, 2023 Dogged Relationships:
…One consistent theme [in the how to take a sabbatical literature] was to take a trip--a true adventure… Putting work ahead my relationship with my wife, I failed to take her on a trip for anniversaries 1-29 so I had some making up to do for our 30th… Prague, Vienna and Montenegro exceeded my expectations. …[T]his sabbatical hasn't been easy on me--I'm addicted to work and taking it away from me has been hard. It also hasn't been easy on my team at the law firm, all of whom are stepping up to try to make [this]… work… [T]his tension has strained our relationships… [What I realize is that] it isn't the work that I value, it's my relationships. [And not just with my wife and team]… After returning to the United States [from our trip we said] goodbye to our 12-year-old labradoodle Camden. As a farm kid, I've hardened my heart… when it comes to animals to protect my emotions… But I got a bit emotional: (1) when I went by myself to bury Camden at our farm, where he had been with me running through the fields chasing rabbits just hours before; and (2) when I saw the emotional impact of his death on my wife and [girls]. When I told my wife Sara I was especially saddened by how she was emotionally impacted, she [said]: "For the last 12 years you've been working a lot and are gone many evenings for work. Camden was always there as my friend."
Sabbatical Day 70 – Talking to God:
[When a plane from Atlanta to Nebraska was canceled, I decided to drive 16 hours home -- by myself.] The most impactful moments on the drive actually came when I wasn’t listening to… books. I just shut the radio off and drove—in pure silence. I talked to God. I talked to myself. And what did I learn? That I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s a rebuilding project, of sorts. And I’m kinda excited about it.
Sabbatical Day 81 – Confession:
This week my wife and I had a meeting with one of our pastors… He kicked off the meeting as many do as of late: “How’s the sabbatical going?" … So, as somewhat of a confession, I just laid it all out on the table. “The truth? It’s been tough. I haven’t been my best. If I’ve had any epiphanies, it’s that I’m addicted to work and the source of my worldly worth has been my career and professional successes. Take that away and I’m pretty miserable.”
Sabbatical – Last Day -- Day 90 – Ready:
In the words of President Nixon, I returned to work today "tanned, rested and ready." #sabbatical
Sabbatical Day Unknown: A Post Sabbatical Reflection:
In the words of Timothy Keller: “One of the reasons work is both fruitless and pointless is the powerful inclination of the human heart to make work, and its attendant benefits, the main basis of one’s meaning and identity.” Most of us do it. We view our identity and self-worth through our occupation. It's easy to fall into this trap and I'm as guilty as anyone. Yet one of the takeaways from my sabbatical was this was a mistake… There is dignity in work. But its value is not in the title, nor the lane of responsibility, nor the income, nor the accolades, nor the prestige. Rather, the value of work must be serving others using our God-given talents, strengths and interests. The focus shifts away from us and onto serving others. When those [align], it's no longer "work."
The Nail: Nailed into the Gallery of Mark’s One Ridiculous Life
“I think [the end result of] this whole struggle that I went through… is that my faith is stronger. My devotional life is much stronger. It gives me peace where peace didn’t exist before. I’m an early riser by nature. So, getting up at 5 am is not a problem, but I used to immediately shower and come to work. Now, most mornings, I do devotions. It works. I come in in a much better mind set every day, that’s where I start.”
Mark seems to be living a life beckoned by Christ in Matthew 11:28-30.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Like an ox “yolked” to another from which he finds strength, Mark attaches himself daily to the lover of his soul not to his desire to find worth in what he does. He sounds like the man who doesn’t just believe in God; but believes God when He says – my yolk is easy and my burden is light; in me you will find soul rest.
So often we treat soul rest like a periodic oil change. Something we do when we have no choice but to. We grind our vessels to the ground. We know we need rest. But we wait and wait until we run poorly or we are so past the service date that our systems fail to function properly. But, as Timothy Keller says in his book Every Good Endeavor, the Lord “is the only boss who will not drive you into the ground, the only audience who doesn’t need your best performance in order to be satisfied with you. Why is this? Because his work for you is finished.” Kindle Edition 238. The work was done with a nail on a wooden cross.
The November Mobile Mission:
In your mission pack, you have four oil change stickers representing the four weeks in the month. At the start of each week pull out a new oil change sticker and put it in a place where you can see it all week long. Consider asking yourself these questions.
Week One: Am I trying to find ultimate worth in what I do for work or others? How might I let God wrest me away from the world’s view of value and allow Him to give my soul true rest?
Week Two: Help me “un-yolk” myself from things that can’t give me ultimate rest… to see what they are. Achievement? Productivity? Acknowledgment?
Week Three: Am I person who believes in God, or who believes God and what He says about soul rest?
Week Four: Can I declare daily, “I will go where my soul is made to rest… show me the way Lord.”
Remember, He nailed it for you! You can rest.
Amen? Amen!
Closing Prayer:
From the book Before the Day by Levend Montgomery, Day 10 Rest is Not the Reward: May the voice that says “come” be louder than the voice that says “produce.” May the yolk you have been carrying fall from your shoulders today and may the one He offers take its place -- lighter, truer, shaped by a gentle hand. He is gentle. He is lowly. And He is not tired of you. Amen.
