Do You Take the Time?

Over weekend, one of my family members had a dental emergency.  We called our dentist's office and on the voicemail, she left her cell phone number in case of a serious situation.  We left a message and she called us back.  After talking over the situation, our dentist kindly offered to see us at 11:00 AM on Sunday.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Our dentist offered to see us at 11:00 AM on a Sunday.

Time is so elusive - all at once, we do not have enough of it (think of all the teachers working hard on a Sunday night to prepare for the week) and it slips through our grasp so consistently (think of each and every parent that watches their children grow up in the blink of an eye).  We yearn for some moments to last a lifetime and squirm when the we cannot wait to have something be over with quickly.  It is so relevant to our lives that I've already written one blog post on it this year, "The Gift of Time."

Yet despite all our yearning, longing, and lamenting, we each get the same twenty-four hours, and this year, three hundred sixty six days.  And today, our dentist spent one of those hours with my family, reassuring us about a little mouth.  On a Sunday, her day off.

While waiting in the outer office, one of our children was noticing all the documents that were on the wall.  I took him over and described what each of them was.  One was a diploma from her undergraduate years, another was her Doctorate of Medicine in Dentistry.  There were certificates attesting to her passing the National Board Exams, being a part of national associations, and other dental professional organizations.  All the documents on the wall demonstrated that our dentist knows "how" to be a good dentist.  By taking the time to see us on her day off, our dentist demonstrated she is a good dentist.

It was a mild Sunday at the end of January, our dentist had plenty of better things to do with her time.  Yet, there she was with the office open and lights on when we pulled up a few minutes before 11.  We thanked her profusely, more than once, and she responded with a smile that this was all part of her work.

In education, we have people's most precious things in the world for more waking hours than their families do.  Do we take the time to reassure families, as our dentist did today?  Do we take the time to connect when families have concerns?  Do we take the time?

As it turns out, our little one did not require substantial attention and will need only his regular follow-up visit.  And our entire visit took less than twenty minutes.  But My Wife and I will sleep much better tonight knowing he's OK.

Do you take the time?