What if...?

Our home teacher came over yesterday. He shared with us the month's message from the Ensign, an talk written by President Eyring, 1st counselor in the First Presidency of the Church. Our discussion of the safety and peace and blessings that come from heading our prophet's counsel somehow switched into a very lengthy discussion about being prepared for calamity. The members have been receiving the latter-day counsel to "be prepared" from every prophet, and perhaps that's how we got that point. For years, and more today than ever before, we have been taught to live within our means, get out of debt, work hard, have a short term and longer term food supply, and accrue savings. Our home teacher brought up an interesting point, though.

He said, "And you know that if something happens and our neighbors have no food, that they're going to say, 'Hey, those guys are Mormons-- they have stuff!' and they'll come to us!" A good reason to "warn" our neighbors-- to gently suggest they get something stored away... just in case.

Warn our neighbors? Hm. Had never occurred to me.

But really, what if something happens? What if the price of gas continues to rise so drastically that it's difficult to get to work, or even the grocery store? What if we lose our jobs for several months, or even a year? What if there's a terrible natural disaster and the grocery stores are closed for two weeks or more? What if there's another Black Tuesday? What if the Dust Bowl repeats itself? The questions could go on.

As our home teacher pointed out as well, people didn't go to bed on an October Monday night in 1929 knowing the stock market would crash the next day. Those who bought gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs a few years ago never thought the price of gas would go above four dollars.

Those who walked to their offices at the World Trade Center the morning of 9/11 would have never thought of the way their lives would end so tragically that day.

Calamity and difficulty strike when we don't expect it. And I'm not saying this to alarm. I'm just... well... keepin' it real.

And we certainly can't rely on our government to save us, nor should we.

But this is why President Eyring was reminding us that there is "safety in counsel." So no matter what hits us and when, that we need not fear because we are prepared, just as we have been told to be-- that inspite of the chaos surrounding us, we can be at peace with ourselves. We can be self-sufficient.

Our prophets have known what lies ahead, I am sure of it. Perhaps I, too, need to be more diligent in heeding their counsel. I know it is a warning from the Lord. (And on a side note, I personally think the best "insurance" one could ever have, comes from paying tithing. I and my parents have never lacked what we need, no matter the circumstances, and I truly believe it's from being obedient to that law.)

And even if you don't share my faith, is there any harm in being prepared? Can any of us really afford to "take our chances"?

I certainly can't.


For more information on emergency preparedness, see www.providentliving.org.

Scriptures

Lately we've been reading as a family about Rameumptom in the Book of Mormon, the tower where the Zoramites would take turns to stand and pray a very misguided prayer. Last night I was gone taking a test, so Kev read with the girls on his own. When I came home to find the girls had gone to sleep, I asked how the evening had gone. Kev smiled and told me how scripture study went.

He had explained to the girls that the people would get up on the tower and pray "bad" prayers.

In all seriousness, Allie responded with, "Oh, like, 'Dear Heavenly Father, we do hit'?"

I died.

Allie's Preschool Program

I thought I'd include a video from Allie's end-of-the-year program at her preschool in May. She cracks me up!

The Lyricist

The other day I pulled out an old audio cassette from my childhood-- John Denver and the Muppets The girls love it. Several times a day I find them humming the tunes to such songs as "Grandma's Featherbed" or "Hey Old Pal."

I just walked in on Allie dancing around my bed singing "... we're going camping..."... or so I thought. After hearing her singing it a couple times in a row, I had to listen one more time to be sure of what she was singing.

"... we're going canning."

Canning? "You're going canning, Allie?" She nodded and smiled. "What are you going to can?"

"Water!"

Hmmm... Maybe "food storage" has been a more common topic around the house than I thought.

In the Past Month... or two

Just when we thought we had our Blogger problem fixed-BAM!- it wouldn't let me in a again for over a month. I was just about to write a regular old email update, when I thought, Eh, I'll give it a whirl. It let me in with no problems. I don't understand it. Facebook is still jacked up for me, though. I feel terrible because about twenty people from high school and my BYU freshman ward have found me and requested to be "my friend," meaning they can see my life's info and vice versa. But I can't "accept" anyone.

I apologize for not sending an update last month, but it was for good reason. I just wasn't feeling well. Fatigue. Nausea. Headaches. Gee, from those symptoms you'd think I was pregnant or something! Actually... I am pregnant. Yes, I'm thirteen weeks along into this one, and due December 13th. All seems to be healthy so far. I had a bleeding episode at eight weeks, that sent me to the ER thinking I had miscarried, but apparently it was subchorionic, and the baby was fine. We decided to tell the girls this past Monday night why Mom's tummy was getting bigger.

I said, "Allie, have you noticed that Mom's tummy has been getting bigger?"

"Yeah." She kept her head down, picking away at her dinner.

"Why do you think that is?"

Her answer surprised us. "Mm... 'cause you have a baby in your tummy."

Kevin and I looked at each other with wide eyes, and I told her, "Well, Allie, you know what? You're right, there is a baby in Mom's tummy!"

She looked up, her eyes popping out, and she and Sami asked, "Can I see it?"

They were disappointed that they couldn't see it yet. I told them they'd be able to hear the heartbeat at Dr. Foster's office the next morning, but Allie was still hoping he'd "cut the baby out of Mom's tummy." Morbid child.

This past Friday was Kevin's off-Friday, so we spent the day at Sea World. At the end of the day I asked Allie what her favorite part of the day was, and she declared it was playing in the water-- the play area with water jets and toys for the kids. We had packed along swimsuits and extra sunscreen. I was sure her favorite part of the day would have been riding the "grown-up" ride Journey to Atlantis with her dad-- a somewhat eerie ride with a terrifying seemingly nearly vertical drop, kind of like Disneyland's Splash Mountain. Yeah, they were put in the front row, and she wasn't even fazed. I saw the picture on the screen, and Allie was clinging to the rail, gritting her teeth and squinting, but Kevin was the one with his mouth wide open in mid-scream, his eyes popping out of his head. I'm excited for the day I can ride Sea World's Kraken with her, their psycho roller coaster. Sami's the one who gets scared easily, though. She had to cling to her dad claiming, "I'm scared!" when the Sesame Street characters came out during the Elmo show. We just rolled our eyes. I think she plays it up 'cause she knows she'll get some attention. She's a manipulator, that one.

At the end of May, Allie ended her first year of preschool by participating in their end-of-the-year program featuring the children singing the cute songs they had learned since Christmas. It took Allie a couple songs to get in the groove. That girl has some pipes. She has way more volume than I've ever had-- maybe it's a confidence thing. She is not shy about singing out. One grandfather commented to me, "So, was your daughter the little singer?" She was right in the middle, belting out every song , so it was hard for anyone to miss her. My friend Aimee, Jackson's mom, came up and said in her Tennessee drawl, "Allie is quite the little singer!" She had such a blast this past year. For her, private preschool was definitely the right thing. I had contemplated doing it myself, but then, when I screwed my head on straight, I realized that Allie in-particular not only needs to be social and interact with other kids often, but needs to get time away from her mom and little sister. Plus, I honestly just didn't want to have to worry about planning lessons. But what a difference it has made for her demeanor! Mrs. Tiller has been a peach of a teacher, and Mrs. Williams, the school's director is one of the most loving, positive people I know.

Tomorrow the girls start their month of swimming lessons, and they can't wait. Allie has been asking me about it for a month, literally. I'm not really looking forward to the parent-tot class with Sami, though. I know her, and she's going to get irked with me for not letting her swim by herself. That is her favorite line these days, "No! I do it by myself!"

She has also gotten into this repeating conversations-thing. As Kevin and I talk at dinner, she'll try to get involved by repeating what we're saying, since it must be important. It's cute. We look at her smile. Maybe we just need to actually involve her in the conversation more...

I really hope Blogger keeps working for me, so I can write more updates and posts. I haven't been able to post any of my creative writing either...

... not that you all really mind all that much.