Living in the Tension

AI makes me better at my job every day. It also makes me wonder what my job will look like tomorrow.

Remote work allows me to be present at home in ways that once felt impossible. Yet it also keeps me tethered to a chair, watching the glow of my screen, responding to the latest “fire” while real life unfolds around me.

Homeschooling has been a gift for my family. I get to see my kids learn and grow every day. And still, there are moments when I feel like an inattentive father, missing the chance to join them in the discoveries happening just down the hall.

And like many people, I sometimes wonder about sustainability. Will this work provide a future strong enough to carry my family forward?

Gratitude and Worry

I find myself living in the tension between gratitude and worry. Grateful for meaningful work, for technology that amplifies what I can do, for the closeness of family life. Wary of what gets lost in the process, of what is slipping past while I am busy answering another message, of what tomorrow’s economy might hold.

I don’t think I am alone in this. Many of us are trying to make sense of lives that are both more connected and more isolated than ever before, more productive and more precarious, more efficient and more exhausting.

What I’m Learning

I don’t have this all figured out. But here are a few things I’m learning to hold onto:

Presence matters more than productivity. My kids may not remember every fire I put out, but they will remember whether I looked up when they came into the room. Faith is not an add-on. Trusting God with my future is not something I do after work; it’s the only way I can sustain work at all. Community has to be chosen. It doesn’t just happen when you’re remote. It requires intention—whether that’s a walk with a friend, a call to a colleague, or a small group that prays together.

A Closing Thought

The tension isn’t going away. AI will keep advancing. Work will keep demanding. Family will keep needing.

But perhaps the goal isn’t to escape the tension. Perhaps the goal is to live faithfully within it—to keep showing up, to keep naming what is real, and to trust that the One who holds all things can hold even this.

—

Beau Brown

Testing in the real world: messy, human, worth it.