Sitting on the stand in our church meetings has its interesting aspects. You get to look into the faces of the congregation and get to know them better. I sit up there and try to figure out who someone may be, if I don’t know them, and their faces are very telling. You seem to learn a lot about the people from their faces.
However, when it comes to my family, things aren’t so fun. I truly enjoy sitting with my family if I am in a church meeting. When you sit on the stand, that opportunity only comes twice a year when you attend Stake Conference. Otherwise, your wife and the kids are alone down there.
When I was in a Bishopric for the first time, my wife struggled with managing the kids because I wasn’t there to help her with the task. She coined a phrase which I feel describes the situation exactly. She indicated that she had become a Bench Widow. She was without a spouse, who in effect had died to her. While I felt very sorry for her and wished I could sit with her, I also felt she did a great job in raising the family during those Family visits to church.