Last Updated on April 13, 2023 by OCF Communications

Episode 005 show notes

What comes to mind when you hear the word balance?

Maybe you’re thinking of a gymnast on a balance beam. In order to have the best chance at a high score, they need balance to finish the routine.

Or maybe you’re thinking of a diet. After all, there are some health benefits to eating a well-balanced meal or having a well-balanced diet.

Now examine your own life for a moment. When it comes to the various parts of your life—family, military profession, friends, relationships with others, and your relationship with God—are you striving to find a balance among all those things? Maybe the better question to ask is SHOULD you be striving for balance when it comes to your faith and the other areas of your life ? Or instead, should you learn to thrive in the unbalance?

In this episode of Crosspoint, Col Houstoun Waring, USAF (Ret.), will discuss the answer to those questions and more in an episode we’re calling “Thriving in the Unbalance.” Col Waring and his wife, Tami, are the field staff couple at OCF Maxwell-Gunter in Montgomery, Ala.

An overview of the conversation:

  • 5:51—What is the unbalanced life, and what are the implications of the word balance?
  • 9:05—How did Col Waring develop this perspective on balance?
  • 10:58—Digging deeper, are there definitions that can be assigned to this perspective of both balance and unbalance?
  • 13:06—Some of the typical problems created when we strive for balance.
  • 14:37—Am I trying to balance everything and do it all on my own? How can I tell?
  • 20:49—How the military life shows us that the unbalanced life can work.
  • 26:06—Challenges military members might face when trying to live the unbalanced life.
  • 29:15—What areas do younger officers struggle with, and what advice is given to them?
  • 33:25—A roundup of books and resources, in particular, 2 Timothy.
  • 41:20—Final thoughts on unbalance.

Resources:

Col Waring mentioned a number of Scripture references during the conversation—John 17, Matthew 16, Romans 13, 2 Timothy 2, and the book of Job. He also mentioned a book for parents that he’s found helpful—“Parenting,” by Paul David Tripp (not an affiliate link).

A 16,000-mile Adventure details the cross-country move by the Waring from Alaska to Alabama.

Quotable:

The word balance carries with it a lot of loaded expectation. It implies a failure on our part to not achieve something.

There is one priority: That’s to know the Lord God, to love Him, to love your neighbor…and everything else follows from that.

Be 100% where God has you at that moment.

Balance, on the other hand, is an implication that I’m in charge, that I’m in control, that I’m going to make decisions to do things so that I can accomplish all of my goals.

God’s in charge. Let’s make our plans, and we can make our schedules. We can plan on getting certain things accomplished and done, but in the end, we have to recognize that God will send interruptions because I am in training. I need to be trained. I need to be humbled.

As we live the unbalanced life we’ve got two options: one is to do things my way; or two, acknowledge that all that God’s doing is right. All these things, whether it’s an assignment, a deployment, or that question when someone stops me as I’m trying to leave and get home…I can either be annoyed or I can acknowledge that this is God interrupting my life in such a way that I need to be still.

About OCF Crosspoint

OCF Crosspoint is a podcast produced by Officers' Christian Fellowship and is dedicated to sharing stories of military life at the intersection of faith, family, and profession.

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