Warren Hino knows a thing or two about being busy. The husband and father of four is the president of his own IT consulting business. Additionally, Warren attends church regularly and has been a college ministry volunteer with Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF) at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) for the past 12 years.

Being flexible through different seasons of life and being realistic about how much he has time for help Warren juggle family, work and ministry. “We all experience different seasons in life,” he shared. Some are busy and some not. For example, sometimes I have to work 50-hour weeks, but the key is that it can only be that way for a season. It’s not permanent or regular, or else it takes a toll at home.” He continued, “It’s important to ask God, ‘If I add this to my plate, where am I going to give up something else?’ As we balance the different areas of our lives, we need to have slack. If something is added, we need to take something else out.”

How do we decide what to add and what to subtract? Prioritization of our relationships can guide us. Warren explained, “Having your priorities right is very important. Family comes first. Within family, your spouse comes first, then your kids. There needs to be that separation because if mom and dad aren’t doing well, it’s not going to be good for the kids. My company team comes second. I’m constantly making sure that the team is healthy and communicating well. Third are my clients. When a business owner or manager puts serving clients above serving his team, there can be problems. After clients come relationships with vendors, which help me improve my relationships with my clients and company team.”

And while Warren certainly values hard work, he cautions against letting career be an idol. “I believe in what I like to call ‘holy idols,’” he said. “Holy idols are things that are good and that we should aspire to but can become idols. For example, Asian Americans have certain tendencies: we are hardworking and want to do our best at our jobs. But that can easily become an idol or huge distraction away from God’s plan. There’s a stereotype that Asians have to be accountants, doctors, lawyers or engineers. But what if that’s not God’s calling? We have to be careful that we don’t let these idols come in and lead us to believe that we must have a certain career in order to succeed.”

Ultimately, walking closely with God—relying on him and being filled with the Holy Spirit—is the key to finding and maintaining balance for Warren. “The number one most important thing is being tied to Jesus,” he emphasized. “The more responsibility you have, whether in the form of family members, other people or material resources, the more you need to be connected with God and seek him. You’ll need to pray and trust him more.”

By Natalie Kwan