Online Book Club: What's Love Got to Do with It?

Welcome to week two of our online book club about Work, Love, Pray! This week, we’re discussing chapters 4 – 6. If you missed last week’s discussion of chapters 1 – 3, it’s not too late to chime in here. For a full schedule of the book club, go here. 

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Let’s face it: relationships complicate our careers, and our careers complicate our relationships.

Such is the case for Diane Paddison.

In Work, Love, Pray Diane talks candidly about her early years in business, her first marriage that sadly ended in divorce and the importance of tackling the tough issues before you get married. She also gives some great tips on knowing if you’ve met “Mr. Right” and keeping your marriage alive.

Here’s another thing I appreciated about these “love” chapters. Diane speaks directly to single Christian women and affirms them right where they are. In fact, she cautions them against jumping into marriage just to please family and friends.

As a woman who has been happily married for almost 20 years, I’m a big fan of marriage. But I also worry that we sometimes “glamorize” marriage for younger Christian women who are pursuing careers and higher education.

Have you ever heard this advice?

“Why are you spending all this time on your career and education? You should be working on finding a husband, not on an MBA!”

I worry about women who feel this pressure. Not only can they feel marginalized in a faith community, they might end up rushing into marriage. Or marrying the wrong person! Or thinking that a man is the secret to happiness!

Granted, we also have to guard against the other extreme – putting our careers before our families and relationships. (No, a career isn’t the secret to happiness any more than a man is.) And as a professional woman, I know firsthand that I can’t ignore the needs of my husband and family, even after a long day at the office. Believe me, there are nights when I want to come home, put my feet up on the couch and just take care of ME!

But God calls us to a life of service, not selfishness. And Diane rightly tackles the need to strike a balance between the often-competing demands of work and relationships, regardless of whether we’re single or married.

What are your honest thoughts about marriage and career? Do the statistics of divorce frighten you? If you’re single, do you feel affirmed or alone in your Christian community?