Well

So let's go ahead and establish that I pretty much stink when it comes to keeping up with the blog. Yeah 2 months since my last post. I guess I need to get more organized or something, or somehow avoid being so easily distracted. It really is amazing how easily we are distracted as humans. Now I'm not saying that we don't become engrossed in some projects, even sometimes to the point of shutting out the rest of the world, which is also not healthy.

The paradigm that I have wrestling with for a long time now is that of balance. I suppose this subject was brought to my attention a few years ago when I was working almost full time, enrolled full time at graduate school, and my wife and I began a family. I felt as though I could not put as much focus and attention into any of these three areas as was needed, let alone any sort of social or recreational life, without neglecting one of the others. Oh, and carving out additional time for personal scripture study and prayer time aside from what scripture I was studying in school, I'm sorry to say, rarely happened, and if attempted usually turned into "wake up drooling on the pages of my Bible time."

So, what to do with such a quandary? Should I sacrifice my family and job in order to succeed in school? Focus only on a corporate career and chalk my calling, the reason I was in grad school, as a "lost in translation moment" between me and the Almighty and hope that the job would provide enough lifestyle for my family they would excuse me working 60+ hours a week? Should I focus on my family putting in a half-hearted effort into school and work? The answer to all of these is no! For sanity I began compartmentalizing each area of my life, but doing so did not settle well with my conscience.

Separating that which is sacred and that which is mundane seemed to be the antithesis to what God has called us to do and what Jesus modeled in his earthly life.

That was it! I began realizing a pattern in Jesus' life as I studied scripture for school. Jesus worked hard, but still surrounded himself with friends, every interaction was an opportunity to be reminded of the work of our heavenly father, and perhaps the most important thing to realize in our hustle and bustle life, Jesus frequently took time to get away from everyone to rest and pray. I realized that the only way to achieve balance in life, and to invest our best into every situation, is to rest and talk to our creator no matter how hectic life gets. After all, scripture tells in Matthew 6:33 "Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." (The Message)

This is still a work in process for me, but I'm getting better every day.

Peace