Good advice from a good man

Today I find myself feeling grateful for some advice given to me by a good man. At church I serve as the 1st counselor to Bishop Durrant and Scott Graff is the 2nd counselor. In the midst of magnifying our callings and serving the members of the ward we have lots of opportunities to interact with one another. This past Sunday Scott shared something he had been taught, and it is something I hope to remember and always put into practice.

One of the great blessings of being in any kind of leadership position in our church is the opportunity to have many rich experiences that help to strengthen your faith and testimony as you serve others and see and feel the hand of the Lord at work. These are marvelous experiences that are precious to me and I am grateful for them. However, there is a danger. My family isn't always with me to share these experiences. Scott pointed out that while we go through these incomparable experiences we have a tendency to think "Hey, everything is going great!" because that is what we feel on a personal level. Unfortunately, our families don't get to partake on such a personal level with with us as we live these experiences. 

This was a lesson that I was taught a few years back by Elder Bednar. We had the privilege of sitting in a chapel with Elder Bednar for 3 hours while an apostle of the Lord answered our questions. It was one of the most spiritually intense and moving experiences of my life. Towards the end I asked him, "Why do we not have our wives with us? We come as priesthood leadership, but yet our closest companions cannot share this experience with us." His response was that it was our responsibility to share those experiences with our families. I admit to being a little chagrined, and also a little put out. I would have given anything to have my wife there with me, how was I supposed to transfer the experience of being taught by an apostle to my wife? 

I don't have an answer to that, but I do have a much better understanding now of the necessity of what he was teaching us. As fathers and husbands and holders of the priesthood we will always need to continually strive to share the faith building experiences we have with our families. We need to be extra careful that simply because we are feeling close to the Lord that it automatically translates to our family. That is one of the great lessons of what it means to preside in the home.

So, thank you Scott Graff for bringing me closer to an understanding of my responsibilities as a husband and father.