Six years ago, Dave Rahe found himself exhausted from work, not focusing enough on prayer and seeking a more intentional faith life.

“I would get up, get dressed as quickly as possible. … I was working on a complex project. I was exhausted. I needed to reset, refocus,” said Rahe, 37, recently promoted at his commercial general contracting company to vice president of field operations.

He began carving out time each morning to pray and read Scripture.

“It’s been a great habit ever since,” said Rahe, a member of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina with his wife, Megan, 36, and their four children.

Out of that habit grew another habit — a Faith Plan — that continues to enrich not only Megan and Dave but their entire family, and it is the model for the plan being shared for individuals, families and ministries through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Synod at Home online gatherings. The five-week, 45-minute segments at archspm.org/synod launched Feb. 18 and run through March 18. They are also archived on the site.

“I felt a call,” that led to the Faith Plan, Dave told The Catholic Spirit of one morning early on in his resolve to pray daily. “How can I spend all this time and energy planning” for work, he wondered, while not allowing enough time for God, his marriage and his children, when they were the most important things in his life? Dave sought to bring the planning and honing of habits that make work projects hum to his faith life. Not to encase or pigeonhole it, but to free it with more intentionality and habits that bear fruit for a family of faith, he said.

Using a spreadsheet from work as a template, he brought the idea to Megan, who also felt overwhelmed with their busy schedule, volunteering at school and caring for their children. Things were not going badly, she said, but their lives lacked intention and focus. She loved her husband’s idea.

“It was almost like a ‘thank you,’” Megan said. “A ‘thank you for bringing this up’ moment. I think I was feeling overwhelmed by the busyness and no intentionality. How do we ground ourselves with three kids? It was the imbalance of doing daily life.”

Now with four children, in grades five, two, kindergarten and a 3-year-old, there is even more to keep track of, including sports and other extracurricular activities, the Rahes said.

The Faith Plan sketched out by their family is prominently displayed in the kitchen, at times on the pantry door, other times placed on the refrigerator. It includes faith goals and a champion within the family to shepherd each goal, such as weekly Mass, service projects and prayer time.

Megan said she wants to be certain service is part of their plan. A recent project has been preparing gift bags to hand from their car to people in need on the street, an unfortunate reality that has grown in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. The kids help pack a protein bar or other item and a prayer note in each bag, she said.

The family’s Mass time is augmented by Dynamic Catholic founder Matthew Kelly’s “The Mass Journal,” with their children sharing thoughts and drawings in the journal during and after Mass as one way to engage them, to grow beyond “checking the box” of attendance, Dave explains in the first video in the Synod at Home series, where the couple share their strategy.

Their children pick up on things during Mass and it stays with them, Dave said. It might be that the priest likes donuts, “but it matters to them, and it helps connect them with listening to the Mass,” he said.

“It’s progress, not perfection,” Megan said. “Nothing is ever going to be perfect, and that’s not what God is asking of us. But he is asking for progress. He is asking that we’re putting one foot forward in whatever we decide to do for him.”

The Faith Plan helps set priorities, the Rahes told The Catholic Spirit. Both parents are athletic: Dave played football and Megan played basketball at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where they met. Their kids are involved in baseball and other sports.

But faith remains central, and attending Mass might mean being late to a ballgame or missing a practice, Dave said. The Rahes are upfront about that and coaches take it well, he said.

In another effort to nurture peace and a slower pace, the Rahes often decline social invitations. “We say ‘no’ more than we say ‘yes,’” Dave said. “There is a greater peace and purpose when we do say ‘yes,’ and it bears more fruit.”

The Faith Plan also is meant to bring fun to the family, Dave said. For the Rahes, that includes family night Fridays for games or a movie, and a weekly date night.

“It’s been great to see the response from our kids,” Megan said. “‘Mom and Dad are going on a date night?’ Well, yes we are.”