I am not talking about something that reaches the level of “heavy on my heart.” I have a number of people on my daily prayer list who are negotiating life-threatening illnesses and their circumstances are heavy on my heart. I count myself privileged to remember them in prayer and attempt to provide friendship and encouragement. I am referring to something important, but less significant than heavy on my heart. In fact, my need to address or resolve the issue is important enough that it disturbs my sense of tranquility as it continues to surface in the periphery of my thought processes.
I have mentioned on a number of occasions that I operate mostly on the notion that “if it wasn’t for the last minute, a lot of things would never get done”. The General (aka – my wife) would never negotiate life from that vantage point. She would have a neatly organized timeline established for whatever needed to be accomplished and she would always be ahead of schedule. I prefer to do it my way. In fact, my son says, “If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute”. I like that!
On Wednesday it occurred to me that my next workday is December 1. What happened to the months of September, October and November? It can’t already be December. Consequently, “the last minute is now here.” I really needed to get board minutes from a September board-meeting ready to distribute to one of the board’s I report to shortly after I return to work.
For a little over a year now, I have personally taken the minutes at the board meetings. That, too, is probably based on the faulty thinking that “if you want it done right, do it yourself.” Previous minutes only provided action items and board actions without the benefit of capturing any of the discussion accompanying the board action.
The board I’m referring to is composed of volunteers who are incredibly capable and committed to the mission and values of the organization. Did I mention, they are not a rubber stamp board? They take their roles seriously and sometimes there is diversity in the thought processes and recommendations. Consequently, it is important to have process recording to accompany the board actions.
Did I mention I type really fast? Consequently, I bring my iPad and a key-board to every board meeting and my fingers start typing the minute folks start talking. The process works well for capturing the essence of the meeting. Of course, I later format the written material I capture to reflect complete sentences and proper grammar. It is a time consuming process, but it works well. The end result is a very detailed accounting for everything that transpired.
On Wednesday, I decided the best gift I could provide to myself was to prepare the board minutes prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. Consequently, they would be ready to distribute to the board when I returned to work on Monday. The concept was sound.
I got my iPad out and opened it up to “Notes.” That is the program I use to capture content from any number of meetings I attend. I use it often and it works flawlessly. At least that was my perception until Wednesday.
I opened the “Notes” application and there was only one document listed. What happened to the other twenty-five to thirty documents that should have been listed? I looked at the screen in disbelief and closed, re-opened, closed, re-opened the program several times. Guess what? You got it! All of my notes were gone with the exception of a meeting held almost a year ago. In addition to the minutes I needed, there was some other documents that I really needed to be able to access. I had a sick sensation in the pit of my stomach.
Consequently, when I left work on Wednesday, I did so with a sense of dread. How was I going to communicate to the board that I did not have minutes to reflect their last meeting? It was going to be a very uncomfortable process. I’m sure they would have been forgiving, but it was a major inconvenience.
As I was driving home on Wednesday, I remembered that my iMac at home also has the “Notes” application. Was there an outside change the iPad and the computer were in sync? Maybe all was not lost. At least that was the fantasy I hung on to until I opened the iMac and found nothing there.
I did my homework. I checked with several folks who are Apple people. No one had an explanation of how I could still have one document with twenty-five to thirty other documents missing. Why weren’t they all erased? It didn’t make any sense, but it was my reality.
I don’t know how many times I turned my iPad on over the weekend expecting to get a different outcome. It didn’t happen, I only had one document remaining under “Notes.” It was not the board minutes I needed. This was going to be really awkward.
Late yesterday afternoon, I sat down at my computer and noticed my iPad. I picked it up and had the thought, “You have not because you ask not.” Where did that thought come from? Okay, so was I supposed to pray that the document would reappear? That seemed really stupid and somewhat insulting to God. File it under the category of “desperate people do desperate things,” but I found myself saying out loud, “God, I really need those board minutes. If you could help, I’d be grateful.”
I turned my iPad on and selected notes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. All of my documents, including the missing board minutes, reappeared. Did I mention I am grateful! I think there is a life lesson in that. I need to write that down, “You have not because you ask not.”
Perhaps you could benefit from the same experience?
All My Best!
Don