IN SEARCH OF PEACE AND QUIET Whatever happened to uncluttered and uncomplicated lives? Maybe every generation asks the same question. But not every generation has had to deal with pressures like ours. We've plunged headfirst into the twenty-first century, knowing that the future has arrived but not sure we're actually ready. It seems like only yesterday our grandfathers were plowing the lower forty, walking to school, going to town once a week, and getting to bed by eight o'clock. Millions of people who made their debut on our planet in the early part of the twentieth century remember when their towns looked like a chapter from Laura Ingalls Wilder's classicLittle House on the Prairie. But Walnut Grove has changed a lot since they added the Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and Starbucks. Quiet, simple lives have given way to offramps, ATMs, and Quarter Pounders with Cheese. Pa Ingalls wouldn't believe his eyes. Life will never again be like it was when people lived in their quiet little houses on the prairie. Jets slamming into the World Trade Center changed all of that for good. Besides, we all live too close to the freeway to back away from the hold it has on us. Together we enjoy all the benefits and conveniences of high-tech, high-speed living. And together we suffer the inevitable consequences. The family that makes it through life without bearing the marks of a hurried home is the rare exception, not the rule. It's like thePeanutscartoon in which Lucy offers one of her unsolicited observations about life to Charlie Brown. "Life," she muses, "is like a deck chair. Some place it so they can see where they are going. Some place it so they can see where they have been. And some place it so they can see where they are at present." Charlie Brown replies, "I can't even get mine unfolded!" Many of us feel as if we can't get our lives unfolded. With all the worry and hurry around us, it's difficult to gain any kind of honest perspective. Sometimes it takes a whack on the side of the head just to get our attention. The Hurried Lifestyle: Marshall's Story Marshall sat in his car outside the heart specialist's office, his forehead against his hands on top of the steering wheel. Tears filled his eyes and dripped in dark, wet circles onto his jeans. The cardiologist's voice had been grim. He wasn't bluffing this time. "It's up to you, Marshall. Either slow downimmediately,or put your affairs in order and say your good-byes. I can guarantee that if you don't back off the pace you're on, you won't live long enough to walk your daughter down the aisle. We've talked about this before, and I don't know how to warn you any more strongly. The amount of stress in your life is out of control. It's got to stopnow!" Marshall's hands gripped the wheel.How can this be?He had all the things that are supposed to make a person complete. He had a loving, devoted wife and three fairly normal kids. Life had dished him out a generous piece of the American pie. And in the spiritual category, he was a Christian and a well-respected leader in his church. An overwhelming feeling of betrayal swept over him, bringing anger after the tears. For Marshall, the wordsslow downwere about equal in dread to the death sentence his doctor had pronounced over him. And even with the doctor's warning ringing in his ears, cutting large pieces out of his schedule seemed flat wrong. Slow down? It was out of the questioneven if hewantedto. His commitments to his clients, his partners, and his creditors wo

Add Zest to Your Family with God's Rest ^Seriously, your schedule is hurried, your expectations are extraordinary, and you and your family's commitments are too many to count. Your relationships with your friends, your family, and your God are suffering. ^Ready for a change of pace? Here's help. "Little House on the Freeway" takes a look at the breakneck speed at which we live and reveals how to not only put on the brakes, but how to get off the freeway altogether. With a special section, "101 Ways to Give Rest to Your Family" and a new chapter that addresses the perils of the Internet, this timeless classic about the importance of quality family time has been updated to rescue a whole new generation from hurry. ^Don't let busyness, productivity, or the tempation to "keep up with the Joneses" keep you from the peace and incredible quality of relationships God created for you. ^"Hurry and busyness are everyday parts of modern life. True priorities of things that matter most