Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Andy Stanley's When Work and Family Collide ~ Reviewed

By Andy Stanley
Published by Multnomah
ISBN#978-1-60142-379-5
143 Pages

Back Cover: Is Your Occupation Also Your Preoccupation?

Let’s face it.  With all the demands of the workplace and all the details of a family it’s only a matter of time before one bumps into the other.  And many of us end up cheating our families when the commitments of both collide.  In this practical book, Andy Stanley will help you...

• establish priorities and boundaries to protect what you value most.
• learn the difference between saying your family is your priority and actually making them your priority.
• discover tested strategies for easing tensions at home and at work.

Watch as this powerful book transforms your life from time-crunching craziness to life-changing success.

Includes a four-week discussion guide Previously released as Choosing to Cheat

Review: I've listened to Andy Stanley preach at his church in North Point, Ga. He is fun, gets the message across and keeps it simple. This book is the same.  It’s refreshing to read a book that is practical and easy to understand. He gets relationships and our demands at work in our ever changing world.

Here’s what he says, “Your family might be your priority, but that’s not my point. They want to “feel” like you’re their priority. It’s not enough for them to “be” your priority. They must “feel” like it….

I’ll never forget discussing this point with a busy corporate VP, “The problem is you love your family in your heart, but you don’t love them in your schedule. And they can’t see your heart.”

Ouch, so true sometimes. If we make this our habit to achieve goals at work we won’t have a family to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  He says we cheat our families and challenges readers to trust God with our fiancés and make our families a priority before we are in a crisis or our families are crushed beyond repair.

The author states, “We’re rarely blindsided by problems on the home front. The real issue is whether we’re willing to pull out of the fast lane long enough to find out what’s going on.

Slowing down to read the vital signs isn’t easy. But it’s a whole lot easier than getting out of the race completely in order to handle a major crisis.”

This author gives practical advice and examples to illustrate what he’s talking about. Relationships aren’t easy. Letting go and letting God have is way in our lives and finances isn’t easy either. But the death of a relationship (a marriage) and the separation of your family is hard too!

This is a great book for newly weds, and marriages that are nearly dead and everything in-between. I highly recommend it!

Nora St.Laurent

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