• Book: “When Work & Family Collide” by Andy Stanley

    I recently finished reading the book When Work & Family Collide by Andy Stanley.  The subtitle to this book is “keeping your job from cheating your family.”  Every one of us only has 24 hours in each day, however, there are times when we don’t make wise choices in how we use that time we have been given.  Life has a way of staying busy with work, family, hobbies, ministry obligations and everything else.  When life remains busy we tend to start seeing overlap with our work and family.  As work and family start to collide more often we see what the author calls “cheating on our family”.   You don’t have to be a corporate executive to have work and family collide, you could be a house wife who puts the chores, cleaning, laundry, and other household duties at a higher priority then your family.

    Keeping work and family in balance can be a difficult task, but if we consistently shortchange our time with our family we’ll begin to see the side effects.  Even if the reason we are working so hard is to provide a good life for our family if time is not invested regularly in the each family member you’ll start to notice a negative ripple effect.  Andy Stanley used a variety of great examples from his own life as well as others to illustrate how work and family collide.  For example, if one parent is traveling a lot there will be noticeable consequences on the family over time OR if you have a parent that spends almost all his weekends “at home” biking or hanging out with his friends instead of taking time to enjoy fun activities with his wife and kids eventually the stress will begin to show.

    The author points out that it is important that we become aware of work or activities that are taking too much time away from those we love.  He used the illustration of Daniel.  Although Daniel had some tough times in his life he still insisted on honoring God by not eating the foods sacrificed to idols and openly worshiping God.  Even though from our perspective he may appear to be out of his mind for disobeying the king he had faith that God would take care of him even if he went against the wishes of those in authority.  To bring it back to our day you may have a boss that requires you to work long hours in order to maintain your job.  If you feel the Holy Spirit revealing that you need to spend more time with your family and less at work you may have to make a tough choice.  When you look at it in black and white it appears like an easy solution, however, we may live in fear of losing our jobs, a good paycheck, or something else.

    God doesn’t reveal His will for our consideration.  He reveals it for our participation.

    Your Creator doesn’t define your life by your career achievements or the neatness of your pantry. 

    There’s not enough time to get it all done.  We’re going to say no somewhere, either verbally or through neglect.

    Stay-at-home Moms and Dads can just as easily cheat those around them.  Whether working outside the home or inside the home, there’s a strong tendency to become preoccupied with tasks – agendas and projects and “to do” lists. 

    Work and family will collide, it is how you react and balance it so that each has its place in your life.  We are called to work and be good stewards of the gifts we have been given, however, we are also called to nurture and care for our families. I was hoping for a few more biblical examples of those standing up for their faith and family in the book but otherwise it was a good read.  Is your life in balance?  If not you may want to check out this book just to get you started, it’s a quick read but a great reminder to keep our focus on the priorities in our lives.

    Rate my review & be entered into a giveaway: I reviewed this book for “Blogging for Books.” By rating my review, it allows me to choose another book and enters you in a GIVEAWAY! The rating is a two step process.

    Step 1: Rate my review below (select the number of stars, enter your email, and hit submit).

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    Once you rated my review AND confirmed your email, you will automatically entered in a giveaway for this book by WaterBrook Multnomah!!! They will pick one person to receive a copy of the book for themselves! WaterBrook Multnomah will contact the winner directly.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week Jake was traveling the majority of the week for work and we had the girls 7th Birthday Party.  It was neat celebrating, it’s still hard for me to believe that my babies are 7 years old.

    Here is the update on last weeks goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday – we had a couple later nights this week
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
    4. Go on our Date Night with the Girls
    5. Celebrate with family and friends at the Girls Birthday Party
    6. Pick up the girls new glasses
    7. Schedule Appointment with Chiropractor

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – need to work on this one
    3. Finish reading Everything Romance by Todd Hafer
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Finalize Upcoming Travel Plans – got most of the travel itinerary done, just a couple minor details to be worked out

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday) – with several doctor appointments after school dinner was delayed
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the Master Bedroom & Bathroom – this didn’t get done this week

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Write a Guest Blog Post – working on it
    5. Schedule Meeting with Accountant for Business Taxes

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    3. Email Alms & Legs Ministry Team with the Meeting Notes

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over a little this week with the girls birthday party, Valentine’s Day & Date Night
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – working on it
    3. Complete our personal 2011 taxes – getting closer
    4. Put money aside for upcoming trips – have some of it set aside
    5. Pay for Jake’s College Classes – cash set aside for the first 6 months

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
    4. Go on our Date Night with Jake
    5. Celebrate Valentine’s Day
    6. Celebrate Brina & Karlie’s Birthday
    7. Spend time together as a family

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
    3. Finish reading When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley
    4. Read and listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
    5. Packing “To Do” List

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    4. Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    5. Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the downstairs Bookshelves / Desk / Dressers

    Business Goals

    1. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    2. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    3. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
    4. Write a Guest Blog Post
    5. Finish 2011 Business Taxes

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses
    3. Complete our personal 2011 taxes
    4. Put money aside for upcoming trips
    5. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results