Priorities

Today I had a tough decision to make, but I'm confident I made the right one. When I got home from work last night, I had an email from my friend Brenda informing me her Dad had passed away on Saturday. I attended her wedding 2 weeks ago Saturday. The funeral is Wednesday, July 9th in WI, 50 minutes North of Milwaukee. I called her as soon as I got the email to let her know I would be praying for her and that I'm here for her whenever she needs a friend to talk to. Most of you know that my Dad passed away 8 1/2 years ago. I know how hard the loss of a close loved one can be, and I can relate to what Brenda is going through right now. I told her I would be there for her at the funeral in a heartbeat, but that I couldn't get off of work. At my place of employment, you basically need to put your request in 3 months ahead of time. If you have an unplanned absence, you get points taken away, even if you have the vacation time. Well, I got to work this morning and thought it couldn't hurt to ask if I could get tomorrow off of work. I was told there was no open time off, all of the spots were taken. I agonized about this most of the day. I didn't want points taken off (10 points per occurrence), but I wanted to be there to support my friend. I talked to my Supervisor at the end of the day and explained that I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I told her I am not the type of employee to call off. She told me that is the reason the points are there. She understood, and told me she would want to be there for her friend. I knew I wouldn't be able to get a lot done at work on Wednesday. I also knew that I would regret not going, but when the regret came, it would be too late to do anything about my decision. I do have a 3 pt work/life balance coupon, so I will only have 7 points deducted. I've earned points for a few months of perfect attendance. So basically I will have 45.5 points left when I started with 50. I can earn back 2 points/month with perfect attendance. Like a very wise friend told me, after I made my decision; 10 years from now the important thing will be that I was there for my friend, not that I got points taken off. My Supervisor said my Job was nowhere near being in Jeopardy. I think you get a warning if you drop down to 0 points. So I'm going to drop this perfectionist way of thinking and focus on being there for my friend. It's a quick trip, but I won't regret being there for her. The scripture that I always think of when friends of mine lose a parent is "Comfort each other with the comfort you yourselves have received from God." I don't have a Bible handy right now as I'm at my sister's, and her Bible is upstairs, so I'm not sure which verse that is. What I do know is that I hope and pray God will use me to be a source of comfort for my friend during one of the hardest times in her life. Please keep Brenda & Dan in your prayers. Little did they know 2 weeks ago, that the "worse" part of their vows would come so early on in their marriage. I know God will be there to strengthen and uphold them! God never breaks His promises! :)