MIA

We had a wonderful weekend as we celebrated the baptism of McKay. He was baptized Saturday and everything about the day was nearly perfect. More on that in the next post.

However, this morning was less than perfect. Things started out great but once we started getting ready for church things went downhill fast. McKay couldn't find his suit pants which he decided he HAD to wear to church today. He knew that he was going to be called up to the front of the congregation by Bishop Lawrence (his uncle) to be welcomed as the newest member of the church. And he was nervous. He wanted to look just right and determined that without his suit he just couldn't do it.

Well, me, BJ and McKay all combed the house searching for the lost pants. Of course this was during the critical time when everyone should be getting hair done, shoes on, etc, none of which could happen because were were all searching for suit pants.

Finally BJ took the other kids to church while I tried to convince McKay that slacks and a shirt and tie would be just great. No luck.

Finally, I talked him into getting dressed and we made it out the door just a couple of minutes late. We raced to church and walked in just as the ward business was being conducted. I sat down on a row close to the back and thought McKay was right behind me. However, when I turned to look for him I saw he had walked right past me to the very back of the church where he pulled out a chair and sat as far back as he could.

Shortly after we sat down, Bishop Lawrence spotted us and said, "For our next item of business, we'd like to invite McKay Cox to the stand."

I held my breath, wondering what in the world McKay would do. At first he just sat still, I think hoping if he didn't move, no one would notice him. People slowly started looking around, wondering where he was. He seemed to notice this and stood slowly. I started to breath again, relieved that he was actually going to do it.

McKay walked slowly toward the front of the chapel, toward our waiting Bishop then, unexpectedly, turned and walked straight out the doors of the meeting. I don't think I'll ever forget the confused look on the Bishop's face as he tried to figure out what to say. I know in all my 34 years attending church, I've never seen anyone do that. Leave it to McKay!

Personally I wanted to disappear through a crack in the floor. After an awkward pause and many confused glances which I responded to with a smile and a shrug, Bishop Lawrence covered with, "While we're waiting for McKay, we'll invite another sister to the stand."

McKay never came back. I don't know when I've been more upset with him. I honestly didn't know if I ought to take the sacrament since I could hardly concentrate on anything besides trying to subdue the desire to smack him. However, after some deep breaths and pondering, I went searching for him and found him hiding outside behind the church pillars.

We calmly talked about his behavior and then he was informed that for his punishment he would have to return to the church after the meetings were over to make up the time he had missed. So, later in the day McKay and I went back to church. He sat quietly, reading his scriptures and writing the Bishop an apology note until his 38 minutes were paid back.

I'm sure someday we'll laugh about this which is why I'm writing it down but even still at the end of the day my blood pressure starts to rise every time I think about it. There is no controlling this one, that's for sure!