EncourageYou!

Ryan (age 8, my oldest) and I going to deliver wedding cakes together. What's a CPA / Mensa member doing delivering wedding cakes?

If you struggle in trying to balance your work responsibilities with your family and other responisibilities, this post is for you.

Eight years ago, just after my oldest son Ryan was born, I accepted my Father in Law and Mother in Law's invitation to join them to help operate their bakery that they founded twenty five years ago (www.crawfordsbakery.com). My career path had already taken unusual turns, but this change was radical.

In May 1988 I graduated from Manchester College (www.manchester.edu) with an accounting degree, passed the CPA exam, and optimistically accepted my first position as a staff accountant at a large electric utility. Despite involuntary job loss and life's uncertainties, I built my credentials. Now I help build a family business into a real company. But working for a small, family owned business creates the following challenges:

1. Unlike many of my similarly qualified peers, my work hours are not the typical Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, paid holidays, vacation whenever I want. I almost always work Saturdays, but am blessed to have two days off a week.
2. With a work routine that changes from week to week, sometimes day to day, I'm unable to do a lot of things my peers can: I can't get my kids involved in organized sports, I miss out on many church conferences, social opportunities with friends, and other events.
3. I don't get to schedule vacations, I get one week off during the summer and the week of between Christmas and New Year's as business cycles allow.

What I have learned from my hard work load is that balancing, or rather synergizing, work, family, personal, and community opportunities must be intentional, not accidental.

1. Prioritize events. Work responsibilities take up the lion's share, for better or worse. With the time that's left, think about what's really important. Your family is a gift from God. They are more fulfilling that sitting in front of the TV watching whatever game is on.
2. Don't grow weary in doing good. Serving friends and family, worshipping your Creator, and loving them are the best hobbies you can have.

Yes, sometimes the things I have to do outnumber the things I want to do. But at the end of the day, the joy of fulfilling my roles with a happy heart is a good feeling. That's why I call it "synergizing" work, family, etc. instead of "balancing". When all roles are fulfilled well, it can be a life well lived.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs are created every day. What possible contribution could a 40 year old husband and father of 3 make to the zillions of web logs out there?

My hope is that offering my successes, failures, struggles, successes, and opinions to cyberspace will be of some value. If I write and you comment about what it is like trying to synergize family, faith, friends, business, etc. etc., that we can encourage and support each other along the way. I may write about on what went right today, what went wrong, what I observe, or what I'm thinking about but will forget to tell my wife when I get home 6 or 7 hours later.

Come join me on this journey and we'll walk together for the glory of God and the good of all of us!

Thank you for reading,
Jeff