When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family

I read this great little book years ago when it was titled Choos

I read this great little book years ago when it was titled Choosing to Cheat and have since told dozens of men about it. It's a great challenge for those of us who work and have a family and I was glad to see that it has now been re-released in paperback to hopefully widen it's reach and get into the hands of as many men as possible.

Here's the deal men. Work is not sinful. It was part of the original plan and should not be viewed as a necessary evil. At the same time, working so much that you neglect your other responsibilities as a husband, father, grandfather, etc is not good. The family is a good thing too, created by God and to be taken seriously. Thing is, when you've retired from your job, your family is still going to be there. In a few short years, no one will stand around the water cooler at work and say, "Man, I miss that guy..." Maybe a few of them will, but you will be forgotten. In great contrast, your wife and children will remember when you weren't there, when you missed birthday's, anniversaries or soccer games and they will carry those scars the rest of their lives. I love how Stanly puts it on page 20 -

...both work and family originate with the same Source: God. He created them to peacefully exist. The tension between the two is understandable, but not unavoidable. Whenever there's destructive tension between two things that are designed to work together, it usually points to "operator error."

Both are good. But when we sacrifice the family, long term, on the alter of the workplace, it's only a matter of time before things start to fall apart at home ¿and ¿work.

I highly recommend this book to you but even more important, I highly recommend you study the Scriptures to see what they say about the institution of the family.

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"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."

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Challenging!

When Work & Family Collide

by Andy Stanley


In today's fast paced world full of extra time wasters like facebook, video games and the like, families often find themselves stretched to the max trying to make it all fit in and still have a family. Work often takes precedence in a material and want driven world where owning the biggest and best requires debt and ceaseless hours of work to make ends meet.


Stanly presents the idea that many families today are mssing out on God's desires because work often comes first and family gets the leftovers. He challenges readers to look for areas in life that can be cut out or left alone for a time, such as leaving work an hour early on occasion, skipping a golf outing or leaving dirty dishes, in order to spend time playing with your child or focusing on your spouse. Easier said than done in many homes, Stanley's suggestions hit home hard and force the reader to take a solid look at their own lives and consider the ultimate cost. What really matters in the end?


An excellent book filled with life stories, this book is easy to read and challenging with God's love written all over it. A highly recommended book for every family!


I was provided a free copy of this book for review through Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. I was in no way compensated for this review nor was I required to write a positive review.

If I'm asked, "Who or what are your greatest priorities?&qu

If I'm asked, "Who or what are your greatest priorities?" I'll give the "right" answer - God, JD, Moon, of course. What else would they be? Work? No. Housekeeping? Get real. Facebook? As IF. But when the question becomes, "If I took a look at how you spend your TIME, what would I see as your greatest priority?", things get a little bit less clear.

But I have to work!

Don't I have to keep my house clean??

I just want a few minutes to check in with old friends, is that too much to ask?

A few weeks ago, I was sent Andy Stanley's new book, When Work and Family Collide. In it, Andy tackles that very subject. He writes:

*Reprioritizing your world around your family is not just a good idea; it's a God idea. As a Christian, I don't think I have any options when it comes to establishing my priorities. To ask my family to take the leftovers is more than insensitive. It flies in the face of everything we're taught in the New Testament about the family. Nowhere in Scripture are you commanded to lay down your life for your stock options. Or to love your career like Christ loved the church. We're instructed to Do our jobs and LOVE our families (see Colossians 3:323). When you love your job and do your family, you've not only stepped outside the bounds of family life, you've stepped outside the will of God.*

Wow. I loved this book for so many reasons. Andy Stanley is a great communicator and it was easy to read. He tells stories to illustrate the issue, gives tools to help prioritize, and all of it is under girded by scripture. I want to buy this book and give it to just about every working person I know!

Take a look at YOUR schedule and ask yourself what it says about your priorities. Then go here to buy Andy's book. You won't regret it.

Protecting family time

When Work & Family Collide by John Maxwell deals with a conflict most families can relate to, the use of time. In particular time spent at work versus time spent at home. When did life get so busy? I can find endless things to fill my time with. Work in particular is a tricky one, a very demanding one. One that supports your family, so in theory you do it for your family but it can also hurt your family. Balance is key for work and family. Andy Stanley walks you through finding balance. He does a great job in helping you see the priorities before you and the choices there are to be made. You do have the power to make a change; He shares how God wants you to make a change if work is cheating you of family life and God will and is able to help you. This book is filled with Biblical insight, real life experiences and sound advice. It is such a relevant topic in our fast paced, more is more culture. If you feel that work dominates your life and decisions, if you feel that you are unable to make changes in regards to this, if you see trouble in your family life you will want to check this book out. Maybe it isn't work that but a hobby or a friend or something else, this book touches on that and the principals learned can be applied to any number or time stealing areas of your life. This book doesn't pretend that the changes will be easy but it does help you see very practical steps you can take to start redirect your time to your family.

I received a copy of this book from WaterBrook and Multnomah publishing for the purpose of this review.

Choosing to cheat

Have you ever said that there isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done? With all the demands of the workplace and your responsibilities at home, it is only a matter before there is a collision. This is more than a time management book, it shows how to re-prioritize your life. We say our families are important but do we actually make them a priority?

Author Andy Stanley is not only a father but he pastors one of the largest churches in America, so he personally knows the tension between the workplace and home. He will show you the principle that can transform your life.

Author John Maxwell says this in the book's foreword: "Every couple, every parent, and every leader needs to read this book and consider the question: Who wins when family and work collide?"


"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."

When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley is an author, speaker and the senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church. He also founded North Point Ministries, which is a worldwide Christian organization. He is also the son of famous TV preacher Charles Stanley.

When Work & Family Collide is actually a reprint of an earlier book titled Choosing to Cheat (which is a terrible title if you ask me, it sounds like it's marketed to men who choose to cheat on their spouses).

However, "cheating" is a major theme in this book - but a different kind of "cheating." There is so much that competes for our time: work, family, church, hobbies, fitness., housekeeping, socializing, sleep (if you're lucky). But with only 24 hours in each day, there is no way that we can fit everything in. And so what we "choose to cheat" on is what we say is important to us.

We all love our families, but the challenges of work and career sometime deplete us so that there is not enough of us to go around - or at least not enough "quality" from us.

When you come home an hour early from work, miss a round of golf, or let the dishes sit while you play with your child, you make your family feel valued and secure. Stanley helps the reader see how they can restore the vision of what really matters in life- and guides the reader in making courageous decisions about how they spend their time.

Using the story of Daniel in the bible, Stanley breaks the book into two portions, the first is identifying the problem and the second portion for advice and encouragement.

Stanley certainly provides good advice here that is applicable to the average workforce. He does a good job identifying a key problem in the world today. I also think he does a good job arguing a case for a stronger relationship be built in the home. One of the things he says that strikes home is that "there are literally thousands of people in the world who can do your job better than you, but there is nobody who can take your place in your family."

This is a great book for underlining, a wonderful book for reading and well recommended.

I received his latest book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

No text was provided for this review.