Charity Never Faileth

As you may have heard, my side of the country has been powerless for a few days now thanks to a mean spirited wind storm. It's been blowing through the states wreaking havoc everywhere it goes!

Our apartment, while rustic and charming, is also very old. It is on the second floor of a converted house and we roast in the heat even with a window A/C unit and a few fans. (or windows as Chucky Sue calls them!) After spending the first night boiling in our bedroom, we fled down to our old hometown and have stayed with family since then.

This whole ordeal made me very glad that we had family near by willing to take us in and cool us down. I didn't have to worry about Big City's emergency plans (or their entire LACK of) I didn't have to worry about my food going bad, if my toddler was going to have a heat stroke, I was taken care of.  I know my family would have taken us in no matter what, but I'm 100% sure, that if they couldn't or wouldn't- our home ward would have found us a place to stay. They called us fairly early in the morning to make sure that we had survived the storm and that we would be safe while the power was being restored.

While down here, we went to our old ward and visited with friends. Our Relief Society lesson was on Charity, and how we implement charity, versus worldly organizations. A a church we are taught to take care of ourselves to the best of our ability, then slowly move outward. Once we are safe and taken care of we can focus on our neighbors, and then our community, and then our state up until everyone is cared for. the whole church also works using the "teach a man to fish" method of charity.

We have plenty of fish to hand out, but if we just hand it out willy-nilly, soon there will be no fish. In class we learned how a lot of the church's past and present efforts have to do with education and training people in ways that will better not only their lives, but their communities. I know personally when I've needed help from the church in any fashion they are willing to give it, and truly ask for nothing in return, but they'd rather make sure we've done all we can to help ourselves before turning to the church. To some that may seem cold or cruel, but when you examine the process thoroughly, you can see the divine inspiration. The church WILL help, but it does not want you to become dependent on "hand outs" or look for the easy way out of a bad situation. The church is teaching us all how to be better and take care of ourselves, all the while being a safety net for when life truly does get out of hand.

So through this mini "disaster" I have learned things I need to change in my life (stock up on more non-refrigerated food!) problems that will arise in similar occasions and how to deal with them as they come. I've also learned a lot about charity and how I can better serve my family and community.