The Rhythms of Grace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week, I signed my 4-year-old daughter up for her first dance class. !!\u00a0 I bought tights and leotards, and she's been wearing them around the house\" \/>\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\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rhythms of Grace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, I signed my 4-year-old daughter up for her first dance class. !!\u00a0 I bought tights and leotards, and she's been wearing them around the house\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Irreverin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-17T20:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-10T20:37:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/333\/2013\/02\/Rythms-of-Grace-Image-tutu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Wathen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Wathen\" \/>\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\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/\",\"name\":\"The Rhythms of Grace\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-17T20:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-10T20:37:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/#\/schema\/person\/d952aeacf2fb5d80629d6718167a6013\"},\"description\":\"Last week, I signed my 4-year-old daughter up for her first dance class. !!\u00a0 I bought tights and leotards, and she's been wearing them around the house\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Rhythms of Grace\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/\",\"name\":\"Irreverin\",\"description\":\"Seeking the sacred in family, culture, politics, and sometimes, even ministry.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/#\/schema\/person\/d952aeacf2fb5d80629d6718167a6013\",\"name\":\"Erin Wathen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74f7ca70483103d7b13738306adccf4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74f7ca70483103d7b13738306adccf4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Wathen\"},\"description\":\"Rev. 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{"id":2032,"date":"2013-01-17T20:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irreverin.com\/?p=2032"},"modified":"2013-02-10T13:37:15","modified_gmt":"2013-02-10T20:37:15","slug":"the-rhythms-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2013\/01\/the-rhythms-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rhythms of Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Last week, I signed my 4-year-old daughter up for her first dance class. !!\u00a0 I bought tights and leotards, and she\u2019s been wearing them around the house for weeks now. I\u2019m trying to teach her the grande jette. Because, you know, it is always preferable to begin the (beginner, toddler, community center) class from a more advanced perspective than your peers.<\/p>\n

Oh, yeah. I\u2019m going to be that<\/em> mom. Consider yourselves forewarned.<\/p>\n

Thing is, while the \u2018retired\u2019 dance teacher in me is thrilling at the idea of tiny tutus, the reasonable, rational side of my brain is thinking\u2026this is how it begins. <\/em> I find myself mentally flashing forward about ten years. To a cascading flow of dance classes; swim lessons; piano via skype with their (by then) grammy-winning uncle; basketball and volleyball practice (since both my kids will outgrow me by the 3rd grade); church youth group activities; band camp; weekend sleepovers; and then, you know, whatever THEY actually want to do. And given the fact that our lives, at this very moment, are pretty full and busy, i find myself wondering; how are we EVER going to find time for it all?<\/p>\n

In many ways, i might really be that <\/em>mom. Because I want my kids to have a chance to try many things, and find what they enjoy and\/or seem to be gifted in. (Here\u2019s hoping that the \u2018enjoy\u2019 and \u2018can sort of do\u2019 overlap, at least some of the time.) But as much as i want my kids to see, do, and practice all of the things that make life full and meaningful, I do not believe in the over-programmed, unsustainable, expensive and exhausting schedules that many of us tend to engage, in an effort to make our kids \u2018perform\u2019 better, go farther, and somehow validate us as parents. The \u201caltar of busy-ness\u201d (says Barbara Brown Taylor) has become perhaps the primary false god of our culture. And i blame it, at least in part, for pulling many families out of the faith community: \u2018yes, we know Church is important. We are just\u00a0so busy\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping that, with intention, my husband and i can strike a reasonable balance of supporting and encouraging our kids to explore their gifts, while also maintaining a rhythm of family life that is life-giving and endowed with that great, yet often overlooked gift of childhood\u2013downtime. <\/em>Precious downtime in which to just BE\u2013 at home, with family, in nature\u2013for our children to simply know what it means to be a whole, round, and balanced person in the world. (Dang\u2013my husband. I forgot to add \u2018drum lessons\u2019 to that litany of stuff up there\u2026)<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I\u2019m resolving to cherish every minute of this time in the life of my family. The kids are big enough to do fun stuff\u2013like go on a road trip, or take a dance class, or eat at a (reasonably) nice restaurant; but not so big as to have demanding social calendars and weekends full of regional whatever competitions. I will enjoy those things in good time, but for now, it is nice to just \u2018be\u2019 with my people. I hope that we are setting the rhythm for a graceful pace of living, for all of our years to come. (Note to self: good job for my spouse, the drummer. He\u2019s kind of a rock star).<\/p>\n

I\u2019m\u00a0trying to keep\u00a0a\u00a0more graceful pace in other parts of my life, too. As i opened my new church calendar for 2013, I thought of all the wonderful things that we want to do in the life of the church this year, as we discern God\u2019s call to serve our neighbors. And yet, I am rid of the desperate sense of urgency that I felt\u00a0in my first\u00a0years of serving this church. While there is always\u2013always\u2013urgency to the gospel (just ask Mark), I no longer get the feeling that my congregation is in \u2018survival\u2019 mode, and that everything we do (or do not do) has the potential to make or break us. There\u2019s no longer a frantic energy around my schedule of events and gatherings, and for that I am grateful. After years of prayerful discernment and following the Spirit\u2019s lead, we seem to be in a rhythm of abundance these days. The work of transformation has finally taken root, and it no longer seems that everything has to be an uphill climb.\u00a0While there is still (much) work to be done here, I feel we can give ourselves permission to breathe through the changes, and let \u2018whatever\u2019s next\u2019 come in good time.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s because we have people in the seats, and money in the bank, and additional staff. Or maybe I have finally learned that nothing we can \u201cdo\u201d can bring about the work of\u00a0the kingdom, better than simply showing up and learning how to be fully in the presence of God and community. I thank God for giving me the energy to run around to dance class, and Bible study, and leadership retreats, and hospital visits, and community task forces for whatever, and preschool orientation night, and choir practice, ad infinitum. But I also thank Jesus for teaching me\u00a0 to simply lay down my own stuff and follow, into a life that cannot be planned, but is always full of good news.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you\u2019ll recover your life. I\u2019ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me\u2014watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won\u2019t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you\u2019ll learn to live freely and lightly.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 11:28-30. The Message<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"