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 PrintableVersion Balancing your family, faith and workLife at high pressureBALANCING YOUR FAMILY FAITH AND WORK This is a scary book! The author is Chief Technology Officer and a Senior Vice President of Intel (yes, the computer chip people) — a major international corporate company. In it he gives his own take on how to juggle faith, family and work. Wow! — his life is a bit different to mine or anyone else’s I know. He is a high achiever and believes passionately in his work and his company. He describes a lifestyle of long hours, travelling and how he finds time and energy for his greater passions, his faith and his family. How does he do it? Well, first, he has a personal mission statement in which he has set his personal mission (OK, that’s obvious), his values and a list of 20 or so goals for his life including his faith and his family. I told you he was an achiever. He also has a gem of a wife! (Not that I haven’t, of course, pet!) He goes on in separate chapters to explain how he prioritises God in his lifestyle and his family time. He explains his work ethic (entitled ‘work hard’) and he rounds off with chapters on mentors and being a witness. At the end of each chapter he includes a set of questions for readers to think about in terms of their own life and at the end of the book he helpfully gives his way of approaching each of the questions. The book is uncompromising (the author would be pleased with that description and I mean it in a very positive way) and very American in culture, examples and style. That’s allowed—the author is, after all, American. It also comes across to me as very male in style, although he does apply his thoughts to both men and women — I suspect men will relate to him and his points more. That’s allowed — the author is, after all, male! Look, I could give you 100 reasons why you might find this book a turn-off or want to mock his brash all-American values and ways… but if you want to look beyond that and see a great example of a man in a high-pressured situation wrestling and living in such a way as to seek first the kingdom of God in an imaginative and genuine way, then the book is a gem — I loved it and found it inspiring. If we all applied the same effort and integrity to our Christian witness as the author does we would be a whole lot more effective. I dare you — give it a read! Ian Parker© Evangelicals Now - July 2005 |
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