So I missed a month in my blog (to be fair, by one day) but it’s got me thinking about this balancing act we call “life.” Last month, October 2008, was packed to the brim with work, family, fun, travel, celebration, crisis… all the miscellaneous pieces of life.
I began October in Colorado Springs with a group of dynamic, inspiring ladies that I have the joy to call friends. We had a three-day retreat in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was played up, prayed up and pampered… and then I reentered the gravitational pull of real life. More travel, more speaking (last month I spoke to over 30,000 people in live seminars). My teenager is a football star, and I couldn’t miss a game. My younger son required casts on both feet—twice!—to stretch his Achilles tendons, so I had to take him to two out-of-town doctor’s appointments for that. And of course, all the last-second book stuff was hitting: final edits, marketing plans, radio spots, endorsements, foreword, magazine excerpts due. Then there was the 50th birthday celebration of my beloved husband. Oh, and I preached three services at my church while my pastor was in South Africa. Did I mention that I still need to run a business in the midst of all of this?
It’s got me thinking about balance in life. How in the world can we make it work? Apparently, my husband has been thinking about the same thing. A day before the final edits were due for Get Motivated! my publisher, Random House, invited Peter to write a preface for my book. Rudy Giuliani has written a stellar, spectacular foreword for Get Motivated! I didn’t think anything could match that, but my beloved did it. Here’s an excerpt from Peter’s preface:
I have always been saddened when women attendees of our seminars tell me that they have been successful in business, but that they feel they’ve failed in their relationships. There is a certain expectation that our culture imposes on them, and that women place upon themselves, to be “Superwoman.” So many women have told me that they feel it’s an impossible ideal and that they struggle to balance career and family. And yes, it’s true that men struggle with a similar balancing act. Allow me to speak a word of encouragement to you: it’s not impossible. You really can find a happy balance in your life, and my best advice to you would be to consider Tamara’s example.
This is a woman who possesses not only a brilliant mind for business, but also godly wisdom, sincere love for others and a mother’s heart. She has devoted herself to me and our children while working tirelessly in our company, travelling and speaking-- and has still managed to find time for volunteerism, exercise, cooking, helping with homework, and the endless other demands of life. The fruit of Tamara’s balanced approach to life is seen in our marriage. It is evident in our children. And it can be seen in the countless lives she has touched. If ever there were an individual to model for success in life, it is the woman that I have the great privilege to call my very best friend and wife, Tamara Lowe.
Such a loving tribute, from such an amazing man! Coming from him, it is especially meaningful. I’ve never known anyone to work as long and hard as Peter does, yet I am not shortchanged as a wife, and our kids are so connected to their dad. It’s because, as my friend Ron Luce (Founder and President of one of my charity partners, Teen Mania) says, Peter takes time to “lean in” to our lives. And here’s just one small example…
Last night, after dinner, Peter produced two forks, a toothpick, a cork and a drinking glass for each of our children. He said, “Here’s my challenge for you: Make the toothpick balance on the rim of the glass. You must use the forks and the cork to help you-- but neither the forks, the cork, nor the toothpick can touch the table. And only the toothpick can touch the glass.” Twenty minutes and lots of laughter later, the kids were begging Dad for the solution (which you can see in the photo above). It’s not an easy puzzle to solve. And I think there’s a metaphor in there somewhere: to make a balanced life work… we all have to stay connected.