Dear Friends in Christ—
Public schools in Alexandria and Fairfax County started last Monday; Arlington County starts next Monday. Grace Episcopal School starts the Tuesday after that. With those new beginnings comes (for parents) an avalanche of paperwork: forms to send medicine into the school clinic, permission slips to use lab equipment and go on field trips. And, above all else, calendars. Lists of teacher workdays and Federal holidays. Save the date for the band concert and the opening basketball practice.
Perhaps you can intuit that this is not my favorite time of the year.
But there is an underlying work here that I do love, which is the establishment of habit. Each September, the new school year makes us examine ourselves with fresh eyes. Are we doing what we want? Are we doing enough of it? What are the trade-offs we are making? Where are we choosing “the better part” (Luke 10:42) and where are we losing it?
We have a few calendars to share at Grace Church. In your mailbox, you will soon be receiving a postcard with significant dates for the fall. Registration for Sunday School and our youth programs are underway. Click here to access the registration form.
I encourage you to take our life together as seriously as you take your other commitments. Church matters as much as travel sports. More, in fact. Your community needs you.
And each of us needs a community that is not merely based on shared activity but shared values, accountability, and (for the brave) mutual vulnerability. I encourage you to come to this place to deepen your experience of community, for your own well-being. We all need a place to belong. The first step in finding that place? Showing up.
I encourage you to think about what habits will help you grow and thrive this year. And then schedule them in.
Yours in Christ,
Anne