This is the last day of Mrs. W. as Adrian is back tonight. I recently read the book, Shopping For Time (by Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw). They are also the authors of girltalk, a blog for Christian women. It is written by a mother and her grown-up daughters about "How to do it all and not be overwhelmed." As a mother of five young children, you can imagine I thought this was worth a read!

The book is very easy to read and fairly short. It is centered around five tips to help get your life in order, and is directed at women of all ages and stages of life. The five tips are as follows:

1. Rise early. Having implemented this tip in varying degrees since having read the book, I can certainly vouch for its effectiveness. It is possible to get up and spend time with God without any interruptions, and having done this, to plan the day and get some jobs done early.
   
   
2. Sit still. This is about spending time at Jesus' feet, and how vital this is, before beginning the activities of the day.
   
   
3. Sit and plan. I have implemented this and have bought a diary instead of relying on my calendar. So after sitting at Jesus' feet, then I can sit with my diary and plan how to most effectively use the time available.
   
   
4. Consider people. This tip was about the importance of evaluating who you are spending time with, and in what proportions. It talks about who you can be influenced by, who you are influencing, and the benefits of planning and thinking about this carefully and deliberately.
   
   
5. Plan to depend. We should not be seeking to complete our 'to do list' more than glorifying our Saviour, and he is the one on whom we depend for help. I am still learning, but this book has provided me with a lot to think about and practical encouragement.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book; it is highly practical and firmly grounded in biblical truth. It is an easy read, with personal stories and humor, but packed full of things to think about, pray about, and apply in our own lives. It is available from Crossway Books.

Just finished a great two day management course. The course came up with the following gems-

To lead is to serve (where have I heard that before.....?)

The appropriate way to give feedback can be described by the acronym BOOST-
Ballance
Observed (behaviour nor personality)
Ownership (ie what can I do to help?)
Specific (factual)
Time- (at an approrpriate time)

and High performance teams can be defined as those with-

Shared vision or goal
Results driven
Sense of team identity
Competent team members
Mutual trust and respect
Interdependance among team members

Together Everyone Acheives More