Tim Kimmel - Little House on the Freeway: Help for the Hurried Home

The Bible says to be still and know Goda challenge in our harried culture. This book will help you achieve relational wellness with God, your spouse, and your children.

D ON M. B UBBA C ATHY , sr. vice president of Chick-fil-A Inc.

Like learning to breathe, blink, or swallow, we assume well automatically know how to rest. But in the rush of todays world, what was once an automatic response is now an acquired behavior. Tim Kimmel teaches us how to rest and, therefore, how to live.

E LISA M ORGAN , MOPS International

Hurry and busyness are everyday parts of modern life. True priorities of things that matter most may be lost. Little House on the Freeway offers biblical insights and principles to our hurried existencehelp from the Word of God for the life being lived in the fast lane.

B ILLY G RAHAM

Once again, Tim Kimmel has stayed away from the typical mantras offered by family experts and given us a fresh, relevant message for parents and families.

C LIFF Y OUNG , lead singer of Caedmons Call

Little House on the Freeway is a book that runs over all our excuses about life-bustling, driving home our need for balance and peace.

P ATSY C LAIRMONT , author of God Uses Cracked Pots

If youre looking for an antidote to family stress and strainlook no further. For those who want to steer clear of unhealthy stress and toward family closeness, this book is must read material.

J OHN T RENT , PhD

I am thrilled that Tim Kimmel is re-releasing this updated classic. Little House on the Freeway will profoundly impact your priorities for marriage and family and have an enduring influence on you and your legacy.

D R . C RAWFORD W. L ORITTS J R. , senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church

If you feel that your familys schedule is out of control and going way too fast, then you need Tim Kimmels wisdom. If you feel that youre doing just fine, then you may desperately need this book.

S TEVE F ARRAR , Point Man Leadership Ministries

In a warm and at times humorous style, Kimmel offers sound, practical counsel on how to restore calmness and rest to marriage, family life, workplace, and relationship with God.

Focus on the Family Magazine

Grace-Based Parenting
Raising Kids for True Greatness
Home Grown Heroes
Why Christian Kids Rebel
The High Cost of High Control
Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right
Basic Training for a Few Good Men
Extreme Grandparenting

S MALL G ROUP DVD S TUDIES BY T IM K IMMEL

Grace-Based Parenting
Raising Kids for True Greatness
Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right
Basic Training for a Few Good Men
Extreme Grandparenting
The Hurried Family

L ITTLE H OUSE ON THE F REEWAY
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked ( NLT ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Italics in Scripture quotations indicate the authors added emphasis.

Names of some people contained in this book have been changed to maintain anonymity.

eISBN: 978-0-307-81569-9

Copyright 1987, 1994, 2008 by Tim Kimmel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kimmel, Tim.
Little house on the freeway : help for the hurried home / Tim Kimmel.
p. cm.
1. Christian life. 2. MarriageReligious aspectsChristianity. 3. FamilyReligious life. I. Title.
BV4501.2.K4933 2008
248.4dc22
2008011922

v3.1

To Darcy,
who brings more calm and confidence to
a home than this man deserves.

W hen I was invited to write the original foreword to Little House on the Freeway, I thought it was best book I had ever read on the subject of dealing with the hurried lifestyle. It still is. Maybe thats why it was so quick to gain classic status and has remained in print the entire time.

But in the two decades since its first release, much has changed. Among other things, technology has added a long list of daily necessities that didnt even exist when Tim wrote the original version. And the war on terror now casts its frightening shadow over our daily lives. Hurried lives are no longer the exception in average homes; theyre the rule.

If anything, the need for the principles in this book are more relevant now than when they were first written. Thats why Im so excited about this new updated version of Tim Kimmels original work. The six necessities for rest that he gleaned for us from the Bible were urgently needed in the closing decade of the twentieth century. They make even more sense now. Thats because theyre timeless.

The good news is that you not only have the benefit of learning how to make these timeless principles part of your lifestyle, but you can learn them in a timely new way. I love how Tim has rewritten this book against the backdrop of new technologies, demanding economies, and a changing world context. Im especially excited about his additional chapter, Little House on the Internet.

Little House on the Freeway isnt about trying to retreat to a by-gone era but instead shows us how to face the hurried lifestyle head on with calm and confidence. Its fresh air for the extended Smalley family that spends a lot of their time trying to catch their breath. And its going to breathe some peace into your busy lives too. A past generation revered the original. The next generation is going to love this timely and timeless new version.

I invite you to turn the page and start gaining seasoned help for your hurried home.

Gary Smalley
B RANSON , M ISSOURI