Why do we do it?
I’ve taken some of my unused PTO days this week (since my truck was stolen, and since I have a lot to get done before my daughter’s birthday party). Early yesterday morning after my wife and daughter had finished getting ready to leave for work and school, they let me know that we had no running water in the house. I had no time to look at it because I have a bridge call for my IT team at the beginning of each work day. I make myself available to the team (for as long as they need me) for triage, prioritization and guidance during the busiest and most chaotic part of the IT day. They don’t have to join the bridge if they don’t need me for anything, but I make myself available to them during this time each morning.
Yesterday was a bit more busy than normal with critical issues that needed to be tackled, so I worked with them for a few hours before I was free to tackle the personal things I need to do here at the house. The night before, I left work at the end of the normal shift to spend time with my family (dinner together, family time, errands and personal commitments we had for the evening). But there were several open critical issues that I needed to follow up on before my scheduled time out of the office — so I circled back to the work items that needed tending and put in several hours late into the night/morning to make sure things were in a good place.
Why do I do this?
I’m not advocating that everyone regularly work late nights and still work on their scheduled days off. In fact, I try my best to ensure that the team that I lead doesn’t have to. If I see them working on their days off or late at night, I tell them “Go spend time with their family” and “We’ve got you covered. ” As a leader, I serve them by filling those gaps as best I can on their behalf. I still divide and delegate the workload as needed to the team, but we are not a critical 24×7 operation that needs an on-call IT rotation (like I’ve had in previous banking, healthcare and commercial datacenter jobs).
But I see how reliable and trustworthy and faithful my God is to me in my time of need — and His example leads me to try to be available for my team in their greatest time of need. I see His example of taking care of things silently and behind the scenes (not to get credit or be lauded as a hero, but because He loves me and wants to see the best for me). I see His taking care of me even while I am at rest, and I want to do the same thing for the people that I serve.
After I finished our IT bridge call, I returned to the personal errands and responsibilities. I did what I knew to try on the well and didn’t find a quick resolution, so I called the well installer and left a message. I started tackling other challenges and nothing seemed to be going right. Then I just lifted up my eyes to the Lord and said, “I could really use some help with this stuff, Lord.” Not in a demanding way, but humble by my own inability and surrendered to the truth that I needed help. My wife called back shortly because on of her clients had brought her Christmas gift by the salon and he had a suggestion of something that I didn’t know to try. I cut the power to the well and cleaned the contacts on the pressure switch as he described and boom, it worked again. I’ll have to replace the switch, but that saved me an expensive repair visit and got us up and running immediately. Then everything else took hard work, but I made progress and was able to be grateful to God for His help the rest of the day.
You are reliable, trustworthy and faithful. If we haven’t seized hold off this hope, help us see this more clearly. If we have hope but it has wavered, help us to remember and to cling tightly to you. By the power of Christ in us, help us to be like you for those we get the opportunity to serve today. Amen.
Hebrews 10:23 AMP
[23] Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word];
Harold J. Ballinger 