Create space for intentional rest.
Restful Rhythms
A CARE Cohort of OakHaven Ministries
Tailor-design a rhythm of rest that fits you, your season of life and your ministry so you can flourish and endure.
Great conference!
So… what do I do next…?
Maybe you’re like us.
The CCEF Conference is over. Our hearts are full. We want to live out our new convictions. Ideas are overflowing.
And then we go home.
We unpack. Things go well for the first few weeks. However, before long, we’re back to our daily routines.
But what if we could actually practice rest?
How might it help us deepen our fellowship with Christ?
How might it impact the quality of our relationships?
How might it change the tempo of our life at home?
How might it affect the way we approach our work and ministry?
How might it allow us to be salt and light in our culture?
And how might it prepare us for eternity here and now?
Well, we’ve got an idea.
Introducing…
Restful Rhythms
CARE Cohort
A learning community for Christian leaders in the church, mission field, nonprofit ministries, and home who desire to proactively plan their rest so they are able to serve generously and faithfully.
CARE Cohorts provide Community, Accountability, Resources and Encouragement in a focused area of growth.
“Dan is the most masterful retreat planner. He is extremely organized and thoughtful to ensure the contents are relevant and biblically-centered. His pastoral heart also extends to his concern for all those who are in his care.”
At the time, there was so much going on that we didn’t think we could stop to rest. But what we quickly realized that when we are suffering from burnout and exhaustion, we couldn’t afford not to.
This is where learning to practice rhythms of rest—even when we didn’t think we could—became so important. First we started with monthly half days. Then we moved to finding ways to incorporate rest into our vacations, sneak in restful moments during our busy days, and the hardest of all: finding a day besides Sunday for us to take time to rest each week.
Finding rhythms of rest is a work-in-progress. It will shift and change as the seasons in our lives do. But learning to practice rhythms of rest in a variety of ways has helped us to operate more out of a place of rest rather than a place of unrest.
This has many important implications. We have found that ministry from a place of rest means we have the bandwidth to think creatively when crisis strikes. We have the emotional reserves to speak with love and patience. Regular rest reminds us of our constant dependence on our limitless God when we hit our limits. It keeps us humble. There are so many other benefits to serving out of a place of rest—ones that we’ll explore more in the cohort.
But let us end with this: the best time to establish these rhythms of rest is not when you’re already burned out, but before you get there. When you’re on a speeding highway, it takes a longer time to slow down and stop.
However, when things are relatively stable, proactively establishing these rhythms will help so much when the unexpected strikes. Sometimes you begin to realize that there are spots of unrest or restlessness that you carry that lie beneath the surface. That sometimes happens when we pause to rest with the Lord. But this is also a good thing, for we have found that this rest allows Him to do His sanctifying work in us—and that gives Him glory just as much as ministry well done.
So if you’re looking for a practical action step after this conference, may we invite you to consider developing your own rhythms of rest? We wish we knew that when we adopted our daughter. It would have helped us avoid so much heartache. If this intrigues you, we invite you to read on.
Hi! We’re Dan and Vera Christian.
Two years ago, we started OakHaven Ministries, a dream of ours we’ve had for many years of our marriage. We’ve been attending CCEF conferences for the past ten years but this one is a special one for us.
Like you, we’ve experienced the challenges of ministry life and home life. But it was in the years following the adoption of our disabled daughter that we learned that rest in ministry is not just a good idea or even important.
It is vital.
Both of us were working hard to care for our new daughter. But we also had other responsibilities too. At the time, Dan was a full-time assistant pastor at our church. Vera was a stay at home mom, homeschooling four kids.
We were exhausted. When you’re that tired, we lose control of our filter. The tone of our home became tinged with tension. Our marriage suffered. Our children suffered. We felt like there was no way out—and it began to impact our ministry—and not in a good way.
“This group of saints who had committed to meet regularly was the first to whom I opened up to when I received devastating news. It was a safe place to share.
Even today, I’m deeply grateful for this season of my pilgrim’s journey, to be part of this committed group of saints, because I still practice the rhythm of daily spiritual discipline of rest in my life.”
Here’s What You Can Expect When You Join the Restful Rhythms CARE Cohort:
Ten (10) thoughtfully prepared retreat guides, each featuring a theme custom-designed to our cohort’s needs. Each guide includes Scripture, prayer prompts, reflection questions, and resources to further develop your understanding of rest.
Warm and nurturing monthly meetings that encourage you to pursue rest in your call to ministry
Guidance in thinking biblically about rest and learning to translate it into practical and restful ways in your life
Personal guidance and counsel as you work through the inner dynamics of your obstacles to rest
Strategies to create rhythms for daily, weekly, monthly, and annual rest
Assistance in tailoring your rhythms to fit your season of life so that it can flex with you
Help to build a restful home life to support you in your ministry life
A community with others in ministry to collaborate on ways to develop rest in home and work
1:1 counsel and guidance as needed
How it Works…
1
Register for the cohort by Oct. 27, 2024.
2
Select a date for your first retreat (before Nov. 6, 2024). Save the dates for the cohort calls.
3
Enjoy the retreat using the provided retreat materials.
4
Log in to attend the cohort call to process the retreat and grow together.
By repeating this process every month, we will begin building a monthly rhythm of rest. Throughout the year, we will also be talking about how to build in daily, weekly, and annual rhythms as well. Together, these help to create a work-rest rhythm for your life, home, work and ministry.
“OakHaven retreats have been tremendously fruitful for our entire counseling team and for me personally. Dan and Vera, like any good counselors, begin by helping us understand our hearts and lives through the lens of gospel grace. While self-awareness can sometimes bring feelings of guilt and shame, their focus on grace keeps us from getting discouraged, allowing us to reflect on our lives with clarity and hope. They refreshed us through times of Scripture meditation and personal discussions that helped us connect truth to life. I highly recommend Oakhaven retreats for your team to cultivate rest through hope-filled self-assessment, Christ-centered meditation, and practical tools for building life rhythms that keep Christ at the center.”
Create a sustainable rhythm of rest to help you endure in ministry.
Frequently Asked Questions:
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November 6, 2024
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The cost is $500 per person for one year (10 sessions).
If you have a group of 6 (minimum) to 12 (maximum), the cost is discounted slightly to $480 per person.
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The first piece of our rhythm of rest will be a monthly personal retreat. We recommend starting with 2 hours and then working up.
The second piece will be a monthly 90-minute call as a community on Zoom. This will be the time where we share our retreat experiences and learn from one another as well as discuss the more practical aspects of building in weekly and daily rest rhythms.
Total: At minimum, about 3-1/2 hours per month for a 2-hour retreat and community call.
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That's completely understandable! You will still receive the retreat materials to use. Any special teaching portions of the monthly call will also be recorded for your viewing later.
The sharing portion of the call, however, will not be recorded.
Don’t see your question?
Please feel free to contact us.
“Being in this learning community has helped me learn about solitude retreat: taking time to be away in solitude to pray and listen to God. The time spent in retreats was such a gift in the busyness of my life. The monthly retreats have reinforced my understanding of the need for solitude and prayers in my spiritual life. Dan was a wonderful teacher—he diligently prepared materials for us to read and learn, and guided us on how to spend the time in solitude. He was always pleasant, patient and supportive of all of us.
It was my first experience in solitude and retreat, yet it has helped form the foundation of my spiritual growth in substantial ways. I am forever grateful for this time in my spiritual journey. ”
Hello again, friend.
If you’ve made it down here, thank you so much for reading!
But maybe you’re thinking that $500 is a lot for something you could just do on your own.
Yes, you’re right. You could.
But what we’ve learned from our own experience is that starting is not the problem. It’s sticking with it. Inevitably, life will throw curveballs at us. And guess what gets cut first? It’s our rest, our margin.
So yes, you could easily spend a few hours on your own at a coffee shop or park. But the real benefits start coming when we practice this work and rest rhythm consistently.
When we have set points of rest to anticipate, we will work differently. After tasting God’s rest, we eagerly look forward to more. Perhaps this is what Hebrews 4 means when we are exhorted to enter His rest. As we rest regularly, that rest begins to be something we look forward to. It begins to flavor our days and our thinking. And in a little way, it prepares us for the eternal rest to come.
So many participants at our retreats have commented that it’s not hard to go on a retreat. But somehow, investing some money helps them to carve out the time. They put it on their calendar. They show up.
And when they show up, they put themselves in the pathways of God’s grace. It’s not the cohort itself. But their investment encourages them to be present. And God responds to those who turn their faces to Him.
We have such a passion to help others experience God’s rest that we have started a ministry for that purpose. If you’re burned out and weary, we hope you’ll join us to begin recovering your rest. If you’re not burned out but long to grow in this area, we also hope you’ll join us so you can begin establishing those rhythms in your own life.
We know that everyone in the cohort will be in a different place, a different season, with a different personality. And we look forward to helping you discover what rhythms will work best for you and for those you love and serve.
We hope that this conference has been a refreshment for you. We hope that you will join us for this year’s Restful Rhythms CARE Cohort as your next step of putting what you’ve learned into practice.
May God’s grace and rest go with you.
Dan and Vera Christian
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ”