What’s Your Ministry? Resting in Christ

How one Orthodox couple carves out space for silence, simplicity, and sacred time in the midst of a busy world.

Dallas, Chelsea, and their three children enjoy time together during their weekly "family Sabbath."

OYM spoke with Dallas and Chelsea Lam, a young Orthodox couple raising their family in Austin, Texas. Amid careers, parenting, and parish life, the Lams have committed to a weekly Sabbath rhythm—from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon—as a way to intentionally rest in Christ. In our conversation, they reflect on the spiritual value of rest, how this practice has reshaped their family culture, and the small but meaningful choices that make space for stillness in a fast-paced world.

OYM: Could you introduce yourselves and share a bit about your background and your journey with the Church?

Chelsea: We’re relatively new converts. Before that, I was raised Protestant in a Baptist church and spent a long time in non-denominational settings. When Dallas and I got married, we were in the Anglican Church and remained there for about ten years before coming to Orthodoxy.

OYM: And where are you both from originally?

Dallas: I’m from Pflugerville—so pretty local, about 30 minutes north of Austin.

Chelsea: I’m originally from the Wichita Falls area in North Texas, but I’ve been living in the Austin area for about 20 years now.

OYM: What initially drew you to Orthodoxy? Was there something you read or a person who influenced you?

Chelsea: I’d say I was the first one really drawn to the Church. I had some exposure to Orthodoxy back in college, even when I was still an atheist—I remember attending a Pascha service. Later, after becoming a Christian, I felt called to the Anglican Church, partly because I had a spiritual mentor there. Anglicanism has a lot of Orthodox elements—though very pared down—in its liturgy and sacraments. But over time, I found myself longing for more.

We both were looking for a deeper integration of our faith into daily life. I was really drawn to the beauty of Orthodoxy—the Akathist of Thanksgiving especially moved me. I remember listening to it in my bedroom, crying, and just feeling this deep longing to be Orthodox.

We started reading books like The Orthodox Way and The Orthodox Church, and that led us into a period of discernment. After visiting Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Austin, it just felt like home.

OYM: Dallas, what about your experience?

Dallas: I grew up Baptist, and for me, Anglicanism was kind of an on-ramp to liturgical worship—it gave me a chance to become familiar with a different rhythm of faith. I really needed that decade in Anglicanism to adjust and grow.

Chelsea was definitely ready to become Orthodox much sooner than I was—she was the gas pedal, and I was more like the brakes. It took me a few years of asking questions, reading, praying, and just sitting with the idea. But eventually, I came to the same place. It felt right.

OYM: Was there a specific moment when you knew Orthodoxy was the Church for you—that this was where you wanted to raise your family?

Dallas: For me, it was more of a gradual process, but there was definitely a turning point. As we were leaving the Anglican Church, we started to notice some divisions within our particular parish. I had found more stability in Anglicanism than in the Protestant churches I’d grown up in, but even that started to feel uncertain. I began to question—would the Anglicanism I know still look the same five or ten years down the road? That lack of stability gave me pause, especially when thinking about raising our kids.

That’s when I began to take Orthodoxy more seriously. Reading books like The Orthodox Church gave me a very different historical and theological framework than I’d seen before. It was compelling. Over time, I just had to work through a few theological questions, but the more I learned, the more convinced I became.

Chelsea: Orthodoxy drew us in by its own beauty and truth. But there was a specific moment for me that really marked a turning point.

We were at a Christmas Eve service at our former church, and they were doing a kind of pageant. It was more like a singer-songwriter performance than a worship service—very entertainment-driven and very much facing the people. I just remember feeling like something sacred was missing.

Later that night, I was doing dishes—on Christmas Eve of all times—and I just had this moment of clarity. I thought, this isn’t worship. I called a friend and talked through it, and that moment really sealed it for me. I knew then that I was longing for something deeper, something holy. That moment made it very clear that Orthodoxy was where we needed to be.

OYM: Could you tell us a bit about how you’re involved in your church community, and how you try to live out the Orthodox faith in your daily family life?

Chelsea: We’ve been attending Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Austin for a little over two years now. Since then, I’ve been involved in both the women’s and children’s ministries, and I also serve as a substitute teacher for the Sunday school classes. I homeschool our kids, so I’m not quite ready to take on a full-time teaching role at church, but I do enjoy helping out when I can.

Dallas: I’ve helped out with the men’s ministry and contributed to some of the landscaping work around the church—I used to be a landscaper, so that’s a way I can give back with the skills I have. We both try to be as involved as we can, but it’s definitely a balancing act with three young kids.

Chelsea: Yes, but one blessing of homeschooling is the flexibility it gives us to attend more services, especially during Holy Week. That’s been really meaningful for our family.

We’ve also been trying to build community in more organic ways. For example, I started hosting a monthly craft night for moms and daughters at our house. It’s hard for me to attend some of the evening women’s events at church, so this was a way to stay connected. It’s become a sweet space for fellowship—our daughters get some playtime, and the moms get to chat and create together. We’re now in our third or fourth month of that.

OYM: So now speak to this weekly practice of rest that your family prioritizes. Could you describe exactly what this practice looks like for you?

Dallas: It’s something we’re constantly adapting, trying to figure out what works best for our family. But right now, it basically looks like intentionally not scheduling anything from Friday night through midday Saturday. That time is set aside for us to be together as a family—phones put away, screens turned off—and we try to do something that’s restful and fun for everyone.

Chelsea: In good weather, camping is our favorite. That’s what we love doing together. We actually live on a ranch, so it’s easy for us to step outside and connect with nature. It’s life-giving for us and creates a natural space for rest and connection—not just with each other, but with God.

Dallas: Of course, in the summer heat, like right now when it’s over 100 degrees, we adjust. Last weekend we went to my aunt’s backyard and just swam together Saturday morning—playing, doing front flips, just being present with each other.

Chelsea: We’ve always appreciated that, in Orthodoxy, the Sabbath is Saturday—the seventh day—and we've tried to honor that rhythm. At one point, we attempted a full 24-hour Sabbath, but it just wasn’t realistic for our life stage. A lot of birthdays, family events, or women’s ministry nights happen on Saturday afternoons, so now we try to rest until noon or 3 p.m. on Saturdays. That’s a solid rhythm for us.

Dallas: Chelsea actually turns off her phone Friday night.

Chelsea: Yeah, I’ve started texting people in advance and saying, “Hey, I’ll be off-line until Sunday.” It helps set the boundary. Dallas can’t completely turn his off because of work, but we still silence it and stay off our screens.

OYM: That’s such a meaningful boundary—especially in a culture where tech is everywhere. Chelsea, as someone familiar with education, have you noticed how reliant schools have become on screens?

Chelsea: Oh, absolutely. It’s wild. Every kid has a laptop or iPad now—it’s expected. But we’re pretty low-tech as a family. Our oldest is nine, and none of our kids have phones. We don’t have a TV, though we do have tablets for things like virtual piano lessons or audiobooks.

Dallas: Even though we’re low-tech, we still notice the impact of screens. So during our rest time, the tech goes away. We actually lock our phones and tablets in the piano bench and call it “the coffin.” The kids even help—“Go put the phone in the coffin,” we’ll say. 

Chelsea: And it really changes the atmosphere. No video-watching, no internet. Just board games, books, time outside—it shifts everyone’s mindset. It’s such a clear reset for us all.

OYM: How did this whole practice of weekly rest first start for you? Was there a specific moment or day when you decided this was something your family needed to commit to?

Chelsea: Honestly, it's been a conversation in our family for a long time. We’ve always been trying to figure out how to establish Sabbath rhythms as a family. When we were still in the Anglican church, the priest’s family at our first parish was really formative for us—they practiced a weekly Sabbath with their kids. That example planted the seed for us. So, credit to our Anglican community for helping us see the value in Sabbath rest.

Dallas: Yeah, but living it out has honestly been messy. For years I had to work on Saturdays, and that made it really difficult. It threw things out of balance for our family, but we didn’t have much of a choice at the time—there just wasn’t financial margin. So we’ve had to grow into it slowly. It’s definitely taken time and a lot of trial and error.

Chelsea: I also came across the work of the Tech-Wise Family—there's a model in one of the books that suggests spending 24 hours each week without screens, one hour each day without screens, and one full week each year unplugged. I liked that framework and tried to implement it. This past Holy Week, I turned my phone off completely—it was such a gift, and as a homeschooling mom, I had the privilege to do that.

Dallas: Another book that really helped shift our mindset years ago was Margin. It encouraged us to start saying “no” more often—to things people were asking of us, but also to things we ourselves wanted to do. You have to protect space in your life if you want to create a rhythm of rest. Honestly, I don’t think there was ever a single “aha” moment for us. It's just something we always sensed we should do, but actually doing it has taken a lot of patience.

Chelsea: Yeah, we’ve gone through cycles—we’d do really well for a few weeks, then fall back into old habits, over-schedule ourselves, feel the weight of that, and then course-correct. It’s an ongoing journey.

OYM: Could you walk us through some examples of the kinds of activities you do—whether it’s during a camping trip or just at home? Maybe even give us a sample schedule or flow of how your Friday-Saturday rest typically goes?

Chelsea: Dallas gets home from work on Friday and he’s usually fried from the week. I’m also fried from being with the kids all week. We’ll make dinner and eat together, and then we start winding down. We lock up all the tech—phones, tablets, everything—and I go offline for the weekend.

Sometimes we’ll play games with the kids—simple stuff like bird-matching games, depending on what they can do at their age. We try to find something fun but low-key that we can do together as a family.

Dallas: And if we’re going camping, we’ll load everything up in the Polaris—we live on a ranch, so we have an ATV we can use. We’ve gotten better at keeping our camping gear packed and ready to go so we can head out pretty quickly. There are a couple of designated spots on the ranch where we camp regularly, so we’ll drive out to one of those.

Just the ride out there is part of the experience—the kids love it. Once we get there, we set up camp, start a fire, maybe go for a walk and watch the sunset. At night, we always end up telling stories around the campfire.

Chelsea: What’s been really sweet is that our kids are always asking about our past—how we met, what we were like when we were little, things like that. So it turns into this time of storytelling and connection that we didn’t even plan for but has become one of the most meaningful parts.

Dallas: Then we go to sleep, wake up in the morning, and after that, we’ll have a picnic lunch out there. Then we pack everything up and drive back to the house before it gets too hot. It’s simple, but it’s become such a meaningful rhythm for us.

OYM: What does the transition back from your Sabbath time to the rest of your week look like? Is it a hard stop, or do you ease back in?

Dallas: The transition back is still pretty restful, honestly. We try to keep that slower rhythm going for as long as we can on Saturdays. One thing we’ve started recently is having family meetings on Saturdays, and that’s become part of our transition back. That’s kind of its own practice, but it’s helped a lot with communication and staying grounded.

Chelsea: Saturday afternoons tend to be when we schedule community time—like going to Grandma’s house, visiting with our church family, or hosting people. It’s kind of the window we keep open for those things. It’s also a good time to work in the garden or get a house project done, because Sundays are usually full with church.

Dallas: And we always try to get a nap in on Saturday afternoons too! That’s kind of our bridge between the quiet, restful morning and whatever’s coming later.

OYM: I’d love to hear more about how you tie all of this back to your spiritual life—how do you ground your weekly rhythm in the Orthodox faith?

Chelsea: We try to pray together as a family once a day. It varies—sometimes it’s morning prayers, sometimes it’s meal prayers. When we go camping, we bring our prayer book and a small icon of Christ. We set it up on the camp table facing east and do morning and evening prayers out there. And we love to tell saint stories around the fire too.

Dallas: Yeah, those prayer anchors really help. And we also try to have good conversations with our kids—about everything. With homeschooling, we’ve made it a lifestyle to read and discuss Scripture regularly. Right now we’re reading the book of Esther with the kids, and talking about how it connects to real-world events, like what’s going on in Israel and Gaza.

Chelsea: It’s just become part of our family culture—to tell good stories, even hard ones, and talk through them together—at the breakfast table, around the fire, wherever we are.

OYM: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in keeping this rhythm of weekly rest, and how have you navigated them together?

Chelsea: So many! For one, our favorite thing is camping—but it’s been so hot lately that we can’t. So we’ve had to get creative—finding a pool, figuring out indoor activities, or ways to stay cool while still being together and unplugged.

Dallas: Another challenge is not having a plan. If we wake up Saturday morning and haven’t talked through what we’re doing, it’s much harder to be intentional. So having that conversation ahead of time—what’s our “family-fun thing” this week?—really helps.

Chelsea: And for me personally, the hardest part is saying no. I love people. I want to say yes to every invite, every birthday party, every project. It’s all good stuff! But Dallas is better at maintaining balance. I’ve had to learn that we just can’t do it all—and that saying no to even wonderful things is sometimes what our family needs to stay grounded.

OYM: Was there a moment when you realized this commitment to rest was making a deeper impact than expected?

Chelsea: Yes. One time we were camping on the ranch and I remember thinking, this is better than any vacation we’ve ever taken. It was so simple—campfire stories, walking, laughing with our kids in the back of the ATV—but it felt like as good as life gets. It filled my heart. We were only gone for less than 24 hours, but it felt like a three-day vacation. That kind of rest really resets you.

Dallas: And I remember a mentor once saying that when you're totally spent, you think you need a long vacation. But often, all you need is a few hours of real rest. We’ve found that to be true.

OYM: What encouragement would you give to a young couple or family who wants to begin weaving rest into their weekly rhythm, but doesn’t know where to start?

Chelsea: Start small and make it regular. Even just attending Vespers on Friday can be your “anchor”—a built-in reminder that it’s time to shift into rest. I put “Family Sabbath” into our shared Google calendar so when someone asks if we’re free, I can see we already have something planned—even if that something is simply resting together.

Dallas: And figure out what’s actually restful for your family. We tried gardening once thinking it would be peaceful, but our kids hated it—they felt left out. So trial and error is key. Find something you all enjoy. For us, that’s being outside. For someone else, it might be cooking together or playing board games.

Chelsea: Be careful not to fill that time with hobbies that are really just more work. Dallas loves woodworking, and while that’s meaningful, it’s still solitary and project-focused. That’s different from true family rest—like playing a game together, or napping in a hammock.

Dallas: As a husband and dad, the pressure to keep working—to earn more, fix things around the house, tackle the “honey-do” list—is real. But we have to ask ourselves: What’s all that for? The answer is often this—restful, connected time with your family. That’s the goal. So make it happen. Fight for it.

Chelsea: Don’t be afraid of being bored. That margin—time without stimulation—creates space for creativity and presence. Turning off the phone changes everything. Suddenly you see your kids, your bookshelves, your own thoughts. It takes a couple of hours, but you settle in.

Dallas: For me, the phone is a temptation to feel like I can be everywhere, know everything, do it all. But there’s something powerful about being limited—to the people in front of you, to the time and place you’re in. Sabbath teaches that. It roots us in God’s time, not our own. And in that, we find real rest.

OYM: How do you think Orthodox Christians, especially young people who are just graduating from college or university and feel pressured to immediately get a job and work constantly, can begin to see rest not as something passive or lazy, but as something deeply spiritual—something that can actually help draw them closer to God and the Church?

Chelsea: Yes—just do it. I mean, in our house, it’s a battle. It’s never going to be perfect, and you’re never going to nail it. But when you actually experience rest—really experience God’s goodness—it changes your perspective. This is what the work is for: to sit back once a week and see what you’ve co-created with God. The fruit speaks for itself. The more you fight for it and prioritize it, the more the habit solidifies in your life.

Dallas: Absolutely. Young people should be working hard. I did—I worked ridiculously hard when I was younger, and I still do. But there’s this rhythm that God built into creation: working hard and then resting. Our bodies are literally designed to shut down once a day—if you try to bypass that, there are consequences. You’ll crash and burn, and you won’t be operating at your best. You’ve got to learn when to go full throttle and when to pull back. The idea that you can just push non-stop—it’s a lie. That’s not true in nature, and it’s not true in God’s design. So yes, work really hard—but then come back and get filled up. You can try to fight it, but eventually it’ll catch up to you. Submitting to that rhythm early on will save you in the long run.

OYM: Are there any final thoughts you’d like to share? Maybe even some upcoming activities or plans you have as a family?

Chelsea: One hesitation I had about doing this interview was because we’ve practiced Sabbath so imperfectly. Like this week—I’ve been running around like crazy and thinking, “Is it Sabbath yet?” I’m not in balance today at all. And we’ve never done it perfectly. We never will. But I want to say this as a mercy to other stressed-out, busy, modern people: it’s not perfect, but it’s still worth striving for.

There are real challenges. For years, Dallas worked six days a week. Our “rest” was just a Sunday afternoon nap, and that wasn’t out of laziness—it was because we were just trying to make ends meet on one income. So I want to speak compassionately to people in different situations: even if you can only set aside two hours on a Friday night for rest, that’s still beautiful. God can do a lot with that.

But also, if you look honestly at your schedule, there’s usually more room for rest than you think. It just takes making some hard decisions.

Dallas: Yes, and for the future, I just want to be more consistent. I want to get better at it. It’s a skill. Even when we go camping now, we take notes: “This didn’t work; we need to do it differently.” My hope is to get it dialed in—like have a few camping boxes in the storage room that we just pull out and deploy, and everyone knows how it works so the process is smooth.

Chelsea: Yeah, and something that helps me is keeping a “best moments” list. It’s like what you were asking earlier—what’s been life-giving? Reflecting on those moments helps us recognize what really brings rest. For us, we discovered that our family really loves camping. That surprised us! Gardening sounded restful in theory, but in practice, it wasn’t. So paying attention and jotting those things down throughout the week can help. When your rest time comes, you already have a shortlist of what truly fills you.

Dallas: As far as future plans, we’re hoping to go to Johnson City to the science museum. We’ve got a couple outings planned this summer—air-conditioned places! And we’re big fans of museums in general, so that’s always on the list.

OYM: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to leave with our readers?

Chelsea: Burn your phone with a hammer! I’m only half-joking. Sabbath was made for man—it’s a gift. And it’s such a timely gift for the kind of world we live in now. But like so many good things, it doesn’t just happen. You have to decide to receive it.

Oh, and we didn’t even talk about sports! That’s actually huge for us. I imagine a lot of your readers are parents, so this might resonate. We’ve chosen not to put our kids in sports—at least for now—because all the games are on Saturdays, and that’s our family Sabbath. We had a conversation with our daughter about the YMCA soccer league, and when she heard the games were on Saturdays, she said, “Oh no, that’s family Sabbath—forget it.” She didn’t want to do it, because she values that time so much. And that was a big sacrifice, because I grew up doing sports and we really see the value in them. But right now, our priority is different. It’s countercultural, but it’s been worth it.

Dallas: Just fight for it. Sabbath is good for you. You’ll come to love it. In the long run, there’s life and good fruit in it.