From the Inside Out

Saturday Night Life premieres this Friday at 7:30, and the Spartan Cheerleaders showed up at ALC today to promote the event.  Enjoy! 

Afterwards, we concluded the “Game Time” sermon series with a tailgate party at the church.  They grilled burgers and hotdogs, then everyone watched the Cowboys game together.  How cool is that?  I absolutely love my church!

I arrived in San Diego yesterday, the day before the launch of our new collaboration portfolio.  More than 600 partners, employees, analysts and consultants converged on this location to be the first to hear the announcements and participate in various conferences being held throughout the week.  Thousands more participated via live Webcasts.  Over a 24-hour period, we hosted TelePresence sessions in more than 30 cities across the United States and Canada, Europe, Emerging Markets, Japan, and Asia Pacific.  It’s been a crazy couple of days.

 Now that the launch has occurred and the press announcements have been made, the pressure is off for me.  I am able to participate in the sessions and network with the attendees now.  It’s still work, but it’s not as stressful as what I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks. 

The event opened with a welcome reception at the hotel last night.  Afterwards, my team went to dinner together at the Indigo Grill in Little Italy.  Since most of the people I work with are not located in Texas, it’s nice to get together, relax and hang out as a team.  It was a late night, but we had a good time — anytime you get 35 “type A” marketing people together you will have lots of fun and great conversation. 

I’m staying at the US Grant hotel in downtown San Diego. It’s a lovely hotel, ranked as one of the Top 128 Hotels in the World by Conde Naste Traveler.  They are also the winner of “Best Luxury Guestroom Design” at HotelWorld’s International Design Competition.  I can see why.  Their rooms, lobby, and meeting facilities are outstanding.  If you plan to visit San Diego, I highly recommend it.  See pictures below.

Powerful song and amazing visuals…I’m speechless.  Check it 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.