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enjoying a good CD at leisure is unheard of. Instead, insomnia, migraine headache, and ulcers are the companions of their dead-tired body. Home becomes a “deserted wasteland”, even though the mansion is elaborately decorated according to the latest trend. They might have treasured the idea of cruising at Shangri-La, but it remains only an illusive dream. They are so busy to get rich that they have really no time to enjoy their wealth. What a paradox! Busyness” is a merciless, wicked tyrant. It turns the elites to the “slaves of time”. These days, the achievers are enlisted as “candidates for Over-Work Death” The Wisdom of Balance Busy professionals need to be freed from the tyranny of the urgent. They need to get acquainted with God, the Ruler of men’s life—the Creator of time, rather than being the slaves of the merciless clock that ticks and tocks mechanically. The “Tri-Mountains”of work, family and relationships can break you if you do not learn the art of balancing them well. Patrick P. Gelsinger, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Intel Corporation, is a devout Christian. In his book, Balancing Your Family, Faith & Work, he talks about the wisdom to balance these three areas. Being the high-profile leader at the rising star in the world’s semi-conductor industry, he fleshes out his convictions in faith , family and his business ethics. His secret is to allow God’s will to be fulfilled in his personal walk with Him, his responsibilities at home and his service at work. These three areas are all indispensable for living an abundant life for God. ！Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family starts his article “Do Not Grow an Over-Sized Lemon” with this punch-line: “Balance” is the key to a successful life! Dr. Dobson’s theory of “delayed gratification in realizing your dreams” is quite the opposite of what the pop culture touts: “ Go all out , at all cost to get all you can get for your work.” His philosophy is that your passion for work and your dream are not in conflict. The key is on knowing how to BALANCE between these two. He stresses the two main factors of a balanced life are one’s relationship “with family members” and “with God”. L.A. Times once reported about a person with the passion of growing the world’s number one super-sized lemon using a specially formulated fertilizer. This lemon grower managed to grow two humongous lemons of two kilos each. The problem was that the other lemons on the same tree all shriveled up. This news really captures well the real life of a lot of people. Some people would pour out their heart and energy on certain dimensions of their lives at the expense of the under-developed potentials in other areas. A balanced and healthy life is like a lemon tree that is created by God. It can produce juicy lemons that are tasty and healthy. But it is never the Creator’s intention to have a handful of extremely large lemons at the expense of other deformed fruit. A life of excellence is the result of an ongoing pursuit toward the vision and goal one have. In the process of this pursuit, one need to be cautious not to put all eggs in one basket to grow one super-sized lemon leaving the rest of one’s life in shambles. Five Life Goals Blessed are those who lead a balanced life, for they shall also enjoy excellence and harmony. In the modern Olympics, the Pentathlon is made up five areas. They are equestrian show jumping, epee fencing, pistol shooting, swimming and cross-country running. The ancient Olympics also had Pentathlon. It included javelin, discus, jumping, running and wrestling. Whether in the old days or today, the champions of the Olympics set their goals on excelling in these five sports. They would not win by zeroing in on one or two areas only. )Jesus said to them , love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) In your life and mine, there is also a Pentathlon that is granted by God: 1、 Love the Lord with all our heart: We are created for God’s pleasure. Therefore, our life goal is to love God through worshipping Him. 2、 Love our neighbors as ourselves: We are crea 3、 To make disciples of all nations: We are created for a mission. Therefore, our life goal is to preach the Good News and share it with all mankind. 4、 To baptize them: We are created for God’s family. Therefore, our life goal is to make known of His church through the fellowship with the saints. 5、 To teach them to obey everything: We are created to be like Christ. Therefore, our life goal is to become mature in Christ through the discipleship training. Spiritual Health Self-Examination The best way to insure a balanced life in the above-mentioned five areas is to have regular self check-up. Just like our bodies need regular physical check-up to guarantee we are staying healthy, our spiritual health also needs to keep these five factors in balance—Bible study, Fellowship, Serving, Offering and Sharing of the Good News. The Bible has at least mentioned seven times the importance of self examination: See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.(Luke 11:35) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. ( 1 Cor. 11:28) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Cor. 13:5) Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else. (Gal. 6:4) ...and find out what pleases the Lord. (Eph. 5:10) Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thess. 5:21) The Old Testament prophet Haggai also twice mentioned: “Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways...”(Haggai 1:5) “This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.” (Haggai 1:7). The weeping prophet Jeremiah also constantly reminded people to “ Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:40) Balance and Family Life is like a scale, balance upholds it from the beginning to the end. Take myself as an example, when I was in the five-year high school program, I was dreaming of a happy marriage. My burning desire was to “Never marry a business man.” Growing up as a daughter of a business-man, my yearning for my own future is a home with quality family time. The cruel reality of “Time is money.” forced me to rid myself of the addictive behavior on high-fashion consumerism. My whole concept toward needs and wants needed a major overhaul. As a newly-wed, I started my own transformation toward the idea of price and value from “three bundles of scallions cost one dollar”. Before marriage, I was definitely a die-hard practitioner on the promotion of consumerism for Taiwan’s economy. “Buy it if you like it.” “You gain and I gain” is the slogan that compelled me to spend, spend and spend. I would get a dress with a price tag of three thousand NT dollars, without a blink, signed to my father’s account, whileI only had one thousand five hundred dollars cash in my wallet. In my first year of marriage, I still thought that “If my husband loves me, then he should get it for me.” And several unpleasant skirmishes later, my little brain went through a major surgery on budget-balancing. I kept on reminding myself, since I already vowed not to marry a career-is-everything husband, I needed to adjust my own spending habit according to how much he earned. I had to say goodbye to my former mindless, impulsive lifestyle. Being a manager of the home, I need to find a balance in the mental and fiscal accounts with one paycheck. In the last twenty-five years, I gradually realized how spoiled I was as a little girl. One time when my brother reprimanded me as a ‘spoiled brat’, I had to acquiesce what he called me. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.” (Ephesians 5:15) In my marriage, I often do this self check-up to balance my need and want, learning to making wise decisions between ‘simplicity’ and ‘abundance’. When a person’s attitude is balanced, his thinking is more balanced. Once the budget is balanced, then, the relationship between husband and wife is also becoming more balanced. The amazing thing is that every time when I read “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”(1 Timothy 6:8) , my heart automatically found the balance. Just like the proverb says, “The contented heart is a joyful heart”. “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13) By God’s grace, Paul’s claim is now my guidepost for my spiritual journey! Scriptures sharing: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.” (Ephesians 5:15) 友情連結： ~~~ 慢活角落~~~ - Yahoo!奇摩部落格
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