Storage and gratitude

I go visiting teaching to a woman in my ward who is married to a handicapped-since-birth man, and they have adopted two special-needs children. When the husband, in his motorized wheelchair, stopped me after sacrament meeting, he asked if I could help them. They have been sick, and now it is the wife's turn. He asked if we could bring dinner in. Tonight. I had already thawed out my hamburger to make shepard's pie, one of our favorite casseroles. I had been wanting it for a long time, and TODAY'S THE DAY!! After agreeing that I would bring dinner (mine!) in to them, I had to stop and be grateful. Grateful that I have more hamburger I could easily thaw out. More green beans and tomato soup. A full bag of potatoes. Plenty of cheese. But mostly, grateful for a mom who taught me to always have extra on hand, and for the advice of church leaders to have a food storage program.
Our ward is doing a "Squirrel it away" program. Each week, we have one item to add to our grocery list. Since I just found out about it 2 weeks ago (blame being in YW and not getting to RS), I started out a month and a half behind. But--we got an unexpected $50 check in the mail. So--I picked up multi-vitamins, bleach, mustard, dry onions, oatmeal, yeast...a few things that have now caught me up to this week. I just hope that I can continue with this. And continue to be grateful!

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."
—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007, 1