Family First

I left the office with plenty of time to get to the lodge and meet with a few of the brothers before the meeting. This is nothing out of the normal except this time I knew when I got in the car that I wasn’t going to be able to stay for long. Because of some other unavoidable occurrence the only thing that I had time for on Thursday night was to check the mail and hand everything off to my assistant for the night. It is an odd feeling every time that I have had to do this and especially since this is the first time that I would be missing multiple meetings in a single year. However, in the end, the brethren understand that family has to come first.

It is during these moments, above all others, that I am glad that I have an assistant that I can count on to take over and whom I trust with the various duties during the meeting. Each time that I have had to leave early for personal reasons I was able to hand everything off, run through the agenda, and get out the door to see to other obligations. At no time have I wondered if something was taken care of in my absences. The past couple of years in particular, knowing that I can count on this brother for the information that I need has been an invaluable resource and I greatly appreciate the assistance of my former mentee.

With that said, I have made it a point to follow up the following day to see what I missed and if there were any action items that I needed to address. More accurately, see what action items I needed to address. Each time that I have made that call I was given a clear rundown of what was accomplished the night before and what I can expect in the weeks to follow. This makes the following meeting that much easier.

I hate missing any night at the lodge but especially a stated meeting. But, as I stated above and as we all hold close to our hearts, family must come first and I have never received any push back for having to miss a meeting for this reason. And each time that I have made the decision to forego the evening gathering, especially this past meeting, I have been glad that I made the right decision. The brethren rely on me to assistance here and there for the tasks that fall under my purview and occasionally for general council but my family needs me during difficult times.

Family First

I spent much of the week finding the little time that I could to tie up some final things for the stated meeting last night. On my way to the lodge the plans for the evening began to slowly change. About halfway to Ardmore I got on the phone with my wife who wasn’t feeling particularly well earlier in the day. As it turned out, my last stated meeting of the year was actually last month.

When my wife called I was honestly a little frustrated as I had been looking forward to this particular meeting all year. It has taken a lot of work to get to this point and I really wanted to be there for some of the announcements that we had planned for the evening and to welcome the brothers who will be taking office for the next year. By the time I pulled into the parking lot I knew that was no longer a possibility.

I rushed through the front door trying to think about all the details that needed to be passed along before I could head back out. The brethren could see the stress and worry on my face as I ran up and down the stairs and from room to room doing my best to keep things organized. With less than 30 minutes until the meetings was to begin, I was finally able to pull my assistant aside and fill him in on the situation. I felt bad for the short notice but there wasn’t really anything that I could do about it.

It was a lose-lose situation where I felt bad for the time that it took to get out the door and to my wife but I also felt bad for having to miss my first meeting since June 2013 and my first as an officer. I was torn for a few minutes but, in the end, family comes first. Not surprisingly, I heard those words repeated many times over as I hustled to get moving.

As the meeting was starting I was unlocking the apartment door and immediately checked to see how my wife was feeling. We talked to the doctor, made sure that we did everything we could to care for her and our 28 week old son, and waited for things to improve. A long night later and my wife was feeling much better. And while I wasn’t able to be at the lodge meeting, I did hear about the reactions from the brethren regarding the announcements and found out that everything else went smoothly.