Observing and Serving

I don't have enough time to create a real post, but I am pasting something I wrote for my teaching group at BYU-I. We are reading "First Observe, Then Serve" by Linda Burton (Relief Society General President). It's a talk that was given in General Conference, a semi-annual meeting for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's beautiful, and I recommend reading it, as it applies to all of us. Here's my post:

"I think I'm just extra sensitive to the message of observing and then serving today.

My husband, Doug, who is good, kind, hardworking, and incredibly conscientious, deals with a lot of unkindness in his work place. His bosses are perfectionists, and Doug, their associate, gets to be "mentored" in their way. Their way is blunt, fails to usually see the whole picture, and is almost devoid of positive feedback. And my husband is non-confrontational, so he thanks them for their feedback, and seeks to implement it.

One of Doug's bosses was kind of rude yesterday, so Doug thought he might be coming in to apologize today (I don't know why he thought that, because his bosses have apologized maybe twice in the past year). But no, the boss had seen Doug talking on the phone twice, and wanted to remind Doug to do his personal business on his own time, rather than during work. We're closing on our home on Thursday, and Doug spent a very little time talking with our loan officer, and then let me know what was going on in a three-minute conversation. Two phone calls. Doug never takes up work time. He comes in early to get work done and stays late. I feel powerless when people are unkind to my husband or my kids. They are wonderful, and in my perfect world, they should be treated that way.

So I can remember as a teacher that I am dealing with Heavenly Father's precious children--children also of earthly parents who want their kids to be treated well. I will mentor with love, and I will reach out, thank students for their hard work, and work with them to step it up, if that's necessary. I will always encourage them, and I'll seek to know the whole story before assessing their situations based on guesses.

Sister Burton says, "Observing and then serving is not always convenient and doesn’t always fit our own timetable." And that's true. Many of us struggle to avoid going over hours, and we also want to give our very best to our jobs. I know we will be blessed for serving each other, and serving our students. Thanks to all of you for observing and serving, even when it means sacrifice."