Preparation

I was at Costco yesterday not giving a second thought to buying 50 lbs each of flour and sugar to refill a few 5 gallon buckets I have in my basement. It's second nature to me to store such bulk staples. Not only was I raised that way but it's also a cultural thing too. Nearly everyone I know stores in bulk because of what we believe the Lord wants for us.

And so today I was reading in the the June issue of the Ensign, an article by Allie Schulte. It's called "Focus on Family Finances", an issue of much interest lately which is consequently why I was reading it in the first place. There was a lot of really good advice but what really caught my attention was this quote from "All Is Safely Gathered in: Family Finances", a guidebook put out by the First Presidency to help Latter Day Saints figure their way through the financial maze. The quote was:

"Latter-day Saints have been counseled for many years to prepare for adversity by having some money set aside."

But the article goes on to say this: "Families and individuals, both past and present, have witnessed the blessings of peace that result from their obedience to this counsel..."

This struck me because it wasn't only referring to having money in reserve, but also the stores of food and other items that we're counseled to prepare and keep ready. I dutifully prepare 72 hour kits for each member of my family and am working toward a full year's food storage, and preparing an evacuation kit. Each of these is in various stages of completion. But the more prepared I become, the more peaceful I feel about the events that could disrupt our lives on a large scale, or even a small scale for that matter.

And as I thought about that, I realized that many of the commandments that the Lord has given to us are along this same principle of peace. If we are able to follow the things that he has asked of us, we will find peace because we've done what we can. It's entirely possible that some huge cataclysmic event will never happen in my lifetime and that I might not ever get a chance to use my awesome 72-hour kit, or to put my particularly thorough evacuation kit to good use. I should be grateful for that, but for now I'll just feel peace knowing that should something awful happen, I've prepared my family as best I can. The Lord wants us to feel peace. What a good lesson.