From the Inside Out

On Father’s day, my church gave everyone a book written by Andy Stanley, “Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide?.”  I read it the other day, and it hit home.  The author presents an interesting premise –- everybody has to cheat. 

Think about it.  All of us have several things that demand our attention.  Whether it’s our jobs, spouses, families, ministries or hobbies, all of these things battle for our attention.  None should be neglected, but there aren’t enough hours in the day to reach our full potential in all areas.  We must make tough decisions about what (or who) gets cheated.  In fact, the author suggests the issue isn’t whether people cheat; it’s where they cheat.

Andy believes that a collision between work and family is inevitable.  As a career professional in a highly demanding industry, I tend to agree.  Work/life balance is a huge issue in the workforce today.  Companies have taken tremendous strides to enable employees to regain that balance.  They provide the technology that allows them to work from home and maintain more flexible work hours, but the challenge still exists.  How do you excel in one area without cheating the others?  Sometimes it seems impossible.

I struggle with this issue often.  I want to move ahead in my career, but not at the expense of my personal life or relationship with God.  Unfortunately, I tend to follow the pattern outlined in the book –  I cheat at home.  I invest an inordinate amount of time, energy and passion in my work.  My friends and family get the leftovers. 

I talk about what I “wish” I could do if things were different, but I begrudgingly accept the fact that this is my life – for now.  I haven’t given up completely.  I try to limit my work life by investing more in personal activities.  However, it’s just added to my problems.  Now I have even more responsibilities, and I must cheat in other areas of my life to keep up with everything that’s on my plate.  At the end of the day, I’m exhausted and frustrated.  Even worse, as I began to read the book, I started to realize I am seriously cheating God. 

My personal devotions and prayer time have suffered greatly over the last couple of years.  I go to church feeling so thirsty and dry inside.  When I feel God’s presence, I bathe in it, soaking it up like my life depends upon it.  I think it’s because my daily encounters with Him are so limited these days.  He deserves more.  I can’t afford to cheat any longer.

I couldn’t have read this book at a better time.  As I embark on what will undoubtedly be the busiest (and most critical) months of my career, I can’t forget the real priorities in my life.  I must adjust my schedule to reflect what’s most important. 

Matthew 6:33 states, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  I know it won’t be easy.  There’s a part of me that still says it’s impossible, but “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  It’s worth trying.

Our 4th of July celebration included family, barbecue, pools, and fireworks.  We spent most of the day at my sister’s new house.  After a couple of family volleyball games in the pool, we moved on to the diving board.  Gary taught Nick how to flip, and by the end of the afternoon, he was not only doing front flips off the diving board, but he was also back-flipping and diving.  The kid learns really fast! 

No 4th of July would be complete without fireworks, so this evening we headed to my parents’ property.  It’s outside of the city limits, and that means we can shoot off fireworks there.  I enjoy the big shows put on by the professionals, but there’s nothing that compares to the fun of playing with your own fireworks.  We stopped by the stands on the way up there and created our own fireworks show after dark.  Part of the fun is that you never know exactly what you’re going to get.  There’s a surprise in each package, and it’s a blast.

We had a great day, and as I sit on the couch writing this blog, I am reminded again of how blessed I am to live in this great land.  I am proud to be an American.  I am thankful to be free.  And to quote the words of Lee Greenwood,

I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.  And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.  Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the U.S.A.

After a week in San Jose, I’m happy to report that I’m back in Dallas again.  Tonight we went to Studio Movie Grill to celebrate my return home.  We caught the 7:40 showing of Wanted.  It’s not a movie for everyone.  I call it a combo between the TV show, Chuck, and The Matrix.  I think it’s more appealing to men than women, but with that said, I did enjoy it.  The action was good (violent, but good), the plot was unique, and the main characters were well developed.  I’m not necessarily a fan of Angelina Jolie, but she does tend to play strong female roles, and I like that about her.  This movie is no exception.  Plus, as Gary points out, “She even bleeds cool.”  If you enjoyed The Matrix, you will probably like this movie too.

Now for something completely different.  If you are a fan of Pirates of Patmos, check out the new pictures from Saturday’s show.  Thanks Derrick!

Back in the 60s there was a popular television show that spoofed the typical spy flicks of the time.  The brain child of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart followed a secret agent who was a delightful mix between James Bond and Inspector Clouseau.  Bumbling, clumsy and not too bright, Maxwell Smart always managed to save the day – mostly due to dumb luck and the skill of his partner, Agent 99.

The film adaptation of the movie was released this weekend, and we went to check it out.  One of the things I liked about the movie is that it doesn’t try too hard to be the original Get Smart.  It has elements of the original tv series, but doesn’t attempt to be an exact replica.  I’ve read some reviews that criticize the movie because of this fact, but seriously, nothing is ever as good as the original. 

With that said, I thought the movie was great.  I’m not a big fan of Steve Carell, but he did a fantastic job of portraying this version of Maxwell Smart.  There were some scenes that made me laugh so hard I cried.  I won’t tell you what those scenes were because I don’t want to spoil the fun for you.  Dwayne Johnson and Anne Hathaway also delivered good supporting performances as Agent 23 and Agent 99.

All in all, (use nasal Maxwell Smart voice here) “would you believe” I’m giving it an enthusiastic thumbs up?  Yeah, that’s right.  Go see it.  If you are a Steve Carell fan, you will love it.  If you aren’t, you will still love it – I did. 

As I waited for the hotel elevator this morning, I glanced briefly at the sign hanging on the wall in front of me.  It’s one of those standard warning signs providing instructions for what to do in case of a fire — only this time something was different. 

“In case of fire…use air” — that cracked me up.  It’s a classic “Warning Fail.”  I’m not sure if it’s good enough to make it in the official Fail blog, but I may submit it anyway.