Life is just very busy these days. I now work 30 hours per week at Principal Financial Group, carry out my varied duties of rehearsal and performance at church, care for a husband, a house and two entitled cats. I'm learning many new things, especially as I learn a completely new job role at Principal, and because of our move last summer, new opportunities are opening up. Nothing is dull!
Last weekend Bryant and I celebrated our first anniversary by taking a three-day weekend. Note to self--we really should go out of town next year, because it's too tempting to "work from home" and not make time for each other! It's hard enough to prioritize life's duties on a daily basis. Truth to tell, we're both overcommitted at this point, and something needs to change. I'm praying for wisdom on this one, because it's so hard to give up "opportunities." (Sometimes they're really temptations in disguise!)
For instance, I have wanted to polish my accompanying skills for some time, not having had much opportunity to do so. I was contacted by the Slinger Middle School teacher with a request to help her with students this month, so I was able to accompany a dozen kids in the competition. It was a great experience, and I'm sure I learned more than the kids did!
My good friend Audrey--another church mouse--has helped me out with a couple of vocal performance opportunities, and I'm very grateful. I'm hoping for a few more. But all of these things compete ruthlessly for my time, and I really must learn when to say "no." Up to this point, I've always reminded myself that opportunities come disguised as hard work, but now my priorities have to change somewhat. My marriage has to come before my career in any case!
I'm hoping some of my sage readers have helpful suggestions for me! What are the time challenges you have faced in balancing work and family life?
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Women in Church (or Anywhere Else, for That Matter)
It appalls me when men who claim to be Christians think nothing of making crude comments about a woman’s body and weight. Remarks such as these make it so obvious that a man’s eyes are going in the wrong direction. Have they forgotten Jesus’ teachings concerning lust? These remarks also reveal a basic attitude of disrespect toward women, not to mention a double standard of unreasonable expectations. Why do overweight men who indulge themselves somehow expect a woman to be uniformly beautiful and flawlessly thin, and why should the outward appearance be so important? I believe the men of our modern culture, even in Christian circles, hold a philosophy that values women only for the pleasure they give to men.
Scripture teaches that baptized believers are all equal in Christ, for “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus (Galations 3:27).” Christian men are told to “dwell with [their wives] according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (I Peter 3:7). Women are “weaker” in the sense that Dresden china is “weaker” than thick pottery. Most world religions make second-class citizens of women (especially Islam), but not Christianity. The founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, treated women with great respect; all who purport to follow Him must do likewise.
Christianity should permeate the culture with this attitude of respect, rather than adopting the culture of disrespect.
Scripture teaches that baptized believers are all equal in Christ, for “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus (Galations 3:27).” Christian men are told to “dwell with [their wives] according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (I Peter 3:7). Women are “weaker” in the sense that Dresden china is “weaker” than thick pottery. Most world religions make second-class citizens of women (especially Islam), but not Christianity. The founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, treated women with great respect; all who purport to follow Him must do likewise.
Christianity should permeate the culture with this attitude of respect, rather than adopting the culture of disrespect.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Future of the Christian Church
Contemporary American society does not value motherhood precisely because it has overlooked the value of children. Children are seen as an optional life-enhancer, status symbol, or as an expendable resource.
Unborn children, under the current federal laws in 2007, incredulously have no rights, even the right to life. They are regularly and legally murdered without protest. Newly born children are seen as a burden to their parents and promptly "outsourced" to a daycare agency, which cannot possibly meet their needs. Children in modern American society are considered an obstacle to the development of their parents' career and financial plans and are therefore deemed undesirable. The society that fails to recognize the long-term consequences of radical individualism it has adopted will certainly suffer from its lack of foresight.
Children are the true wealth of the family, and consequently of society at large, because children are literally the future incarnate. Previous generations have been careful to recognize this and to make elaborate provision for their posterity. Today, investment in the lives of children is seen as inferior to the pursuit of other, more personal goals, such as the acquisition of material wealth or the advancement of the mother's career. Those parents who sacrifice their children's future for those short-term goals will pay a heavy price in the larger perspective as they lose the love and attachment of children who are the hope of their old age.
Today's parents, even Christian parents, seem largely unaware that they are losing valuable time to influence their children and direct them in the way they should go. Young children and teens are nothing if not impressionable, and they carry those early influences with them the rest of their lives. If parents wonder why their children do not hold the same values they do, perhaps it's because they failed to teach those values while the children were young. On the other hand, the haters of God are happy to pick up the slack; to use our own weapons against us, in a manner of speaking. Christian parents who bewail the state of our society ought to seize upon the opportunity to send their children forth "as arrows in the hand of a mighty man." Forming straight arrows takes time and care, and the parents who bother are well rewarded for their efforts.
Various studies have shown to our satisfaction the devastating effects of the demise of family life. A quick glance at a current newspaper shows alarming spikes in violence, plunging test scores in public schools, and a host of social ills we find ourselves helpless to stem. This widespread failure of the family unit imposes a great burden on the entire society which must then provide taxpayer-funded services to close the gap between the needs of youth and the inability of parents to meet them. Sometimes this takes the form of welfare, sometimes rehabilitation in a house of correction, and even years of tax-funded meals in the penitentiary, not to mention the drain on law enforcement resources. That's just the beginning.
What happens to a society that throws away one-third of its future? It perishes and is never seen again. The future, men and women, belongs to those who have children—but even more to those who influence them.
10-18-07
Unborn children, under the current federal laws in 2007, incredulously have no rights, even the right to life. They are regularly and legally murdered without protest. Newly born children are seen as a burden to their parents and promptly "outsourced" to a daycare agency, which cannot possibly meet their needs. Children in modern American society are considered an obstacle to the development of their parents' career and financial plans and are therefore deemed undesirable. The society that fails to recognize the long-term consequences of radical individualism it has adopted will certainly suffer from its lack of foresight.
Children are the true wealth of the family, and consequently of society at large, because children are literally the future incarnate. Previous generations have been careful to recognize this and to make elaborate provision for their posterity. Today, investment in the lives of children is seen as inferior to the pursuit of other, more personal goals, such as the acquisition of material wealth or the advancement of the mother's career. Those parents who sacrifice their children's future for those short-term goals will pay a heavy price in the larger perspective as they lose the love and attachment of children who are the hope of their old age.
Today's parents, even Christian parents, seem largely unaware that they are losing valuable time to influence their children and direct them in the way they should go. Young children and teens are nothing if not impressionable, and they carry those early influences with them the rest of their lives. If parents wonder why their children do not hold the same values they do, perhaps it's because they failed to teach those values while the children were young. On the other hand, the haters of God are happy to pick up the slack; to use our own weapons against us, in a manner of speaking. Christian parents who bewail the state of our society ought to seize upon the opportunity to send their children forth "as arrows in the hand of a mighty man." Forming straight arrows takes time and care, and the parents who bother are well rewarded for their efforts.
Various studies have shown to our satisfaction the devastating effects of the demise of family life. A quick glance at a current newspaper shows alarming spikes in violence, plunging test scores in public schools, and a host of social ills we find ourselves helpless to stem. This widespread failure of the family unit imposes a great burden on the entire society which must then provide taxpayer-funded services to close the gap between the needs of youth and the inability of parents to meet them. Sometimes this takes the form of welfare, sometimes rehabilitation in a house of correction, and even years of tax-funded meals in the penitentiary, not to mention the drain on law enforcement resources. That's just the beginning.
What happens to a society that throws away one-third of its future? It perishes and is never seen again. The future, men and women, belongs to those who have children—but even more to those who influence them.
10-18-07
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