Thursday, May 19, 2005

Choosing to Cheat...

Just finished this book by Andy Stanley. I'm still processing it, but all in all I think he has some good stuff to say. I may not always agree with the way that he communicates it, but the principles certainly have merit.

One thought that has particularly struck me is, "Does my wife feel like a single mom?" There is almost no doubt in my mind that there have been days and weeks when she has...and does. I imagine that most Sunday mornings she feels this way. I always have a billion things to do and she is forced to get the kids ready all by herself...which I know is not an easy task.

So how do I get back to normal...and not "normal" by my standards, but "normal" by the standards of my family? It's a thought to ponder.

I remember having a conversation 4 years ago with another YP at NYWC in Dallas. He asked me to mark down on a calendar how much I worked in a given week. Then he asked my wife to do the same thing. She marked down the time where she felt I was working. The catch was that I wasn't allowed to question what she wrote down, or try to justify it...which is what any guy would do.

The end result showed me that my wife felt I was working way more than I thought I was. There were times when I was "cheating" her by giving to my job. My family was missing on on a significant portion of my time. That was not a good thing, and some changes were made. But I think some changes still need to be made. I'm just not sure what they are.

Just a thought: Normal to you is not always normal to her.

1 comment:

JOE B said...

Mike, I found out the same thing about a year ago. Not only was I Cheating my family by giving to my job but I was also cheating by just doing to much "stuff." Once I started spending more time with my family, I have been a different man. (Different, for the better.)

Just wanted to say hello and I like some of the pictures you posted.

God bless, Joe