Luci Swindoll - Notes to a Working Woman: Finding Balance, Passion, and Fulfillment in Your Life

notes
to a
working
woman

OTHER BOOKS
BY LUCI SWINDOLL

I Married Adventure

I Married Adventure Journal

Celebrating Life

Alchemy of the Heart

You Bring the Confetti

Wide My World, Narrow My Bed

notes
to a
working
woman

FINDING BALANCE, PASSION, AND FULFILLMENT IN YOUR LIFE

Luci Swindoll

2004 Luci Swindoll

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214.

W Publishing Group books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), 1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation.

Other Scripture references are from:

The King James Version of the Bible (KJV).

The Living Bible (TLB), copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Swindoll, Luci, 1932
Notes to a working woman : finding balance, passion, and fulfillment in your life / Luci Swindoll.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8499-4539-9
1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Women employeesReligious life. 3. WorkReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
BV4527.S878 2004
248.8'43dc22

2004017373

Printed in the United States of America
04 05 06 07 08 PHX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated with gratitude to
six of the hardest-working women I know:

Thelma Wells,
Patsy Clairmont,
Marilyn Meberg,
Sheila Walsh,
Nicole Johnson,
and
Mary Graham.

They give me joy, hope, encouragement, laughter, and
the enormous pleasure of their company.
I love each one with all my heart.

contents

The Amazing Value of Dead Ends,
False Leads, and Entry-Level Jobs

Its All about Brains, Courage,
Heart, and Faith

Youre Getting Smarter All the
TimeGuaranteed

Irksome Barriers You Can Drive
Around

Success Redefined by Women
Whove Made It

I ve been writing this book for fifty-two years. Thats a long time to spend on any one project, but its true.

From my first job at age twelve as a baby-sitter for the neighbors children, to yesterdays speaking engagement at a Women of Faith conference, this manuscript has been forming in my head. With every day that I punched a time clock, dealt with employee problems, juggled priorities, rearranged a budget, delegated duties, arrived at work early or stayed late, socialized at a company function, flew to a meeting, or followed a career decision, I wrote another page.

I didnt know it then, but Ive been quietly gathering data since I was a child. I just wish somebody had encouraged me to take notes during those early days. With a mother and grandmother who made scrapbooks and jotted comments in the margins of their Bibles so theyd know where they left off, Im surprised they didnt insist I write things down.

Be that as it may, the minute I started thinking for myself, I did. I kept lists in little books and checked them religiously. Besides that, Im a pack rat, so Ive gathered enough information through the years to have my own database of personal scribbles with saved programs, brochures, journals, and photos. Ive loved gathering information about everything, and since Im maddeningly detailed, Ive left paper trails that have followed me around through seven decades.

Not only am I a note-taker, Im a mapmaker. And the more detailed, the better. I find the north arrow and start in! While my parents were trying to fold a road map in the front seat, I was in the back, drawing one. Im an information junkie. As my friends say, Just give Luci the data, and shell figure it out. In the fifty-odd journals Ive kept through the years, Ive always attached a handmade map, showing the path down which I traveled or had plans to. I like squirreling little jottings into pockets of books and clothes to get me to the right place at the right time.

The other day I was putting an old sweater into a box for Goodwill, and one of the pockets had a handmade map with this note: Turn left on Hwy. 74 and follow that winding road. People have been known to get killed on this road so drive very carefullyand I had put an X where a motorcyclist had met his Maker.

All of this information gathering suggests Ive had a businesswomans mind-set all my life. Im glad. I love networking and brainstorming... being on the battlefront of business and commerce... taking risks and managing difficult projects... having an office to call my own... being challenged by new ideas and dreams... negotiating a plan to come up with the best solution... and being on a team. Its fun and challenging. Hard at times, of course, but I believe the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

If youre a woman who works, this book is for you. Or if you are just launching your career, this will help. Its possible for women to find meaning in whatever field they choose, without altering any of their standards or precepts or denying the special gift of their womanhood.

So, in the chapters that follow, Im giving you a road map. With the turning of every page, youll see more clearly how to get to your destination. Its out there, over the horizon, and its your own personal nichethe work thats uniquely suited to you, whether youre a college senior anticipating a career, a mother reentering the work force, a recent graduate in an entrylevel position, or a veteran whos been on the road awhile.

I frequently use the term the Christian professional woman or simply the professional woman. But Im using this term in a very defined sense. Im not referring only to socalled professionalsdoctors, lawyers, astronauts, teachers but to the woman who sees her work as more than just a job and goes about it with a thoroughgoing professionalism.

What is crucial for true professional fulfillment is not receiving specialized training or becoming a power-driven workaholic. Its learning to think critically, evaluate wisely, and encourage the people who work for and with us without losing our sense of values. After all, there are better ways to calculate profit and loss than counting money.

I believe this concept of building both character and career has been largely neglected in the book market. And the Christian market typically has had very little to say to career women. In fact, Ive noticed an interesting thing as Ive researched material to bring this book to completion. Much is written for the working woman who is not a Christian: how to pull rank, how much money to shoot for, whom to hobnob with, where to go for lunch and vacation, how to beat the goodole-boy system, and so on. We find lots of information about what the successful woman wears to work, but little is written on how to be a successful human being in that same place.