Provident Living

I enjoyed reading Elder Hale's address, 'Becoming Provident Providers Both Spiritually and Temporally' in the General Conference edition of the Ensign. I was struck by his comparison of living in the United States today in this time of economic turmoil and what our Grandparents went through during the time of the Great Depression.

These are his words:

"...our children are growing up in times of economic uncertainty. Just as our grandparents and great-grandparents learned vital lessons through economic adversity, what we learn now, in our present circumstances, can bless us and our posterity for generations to come.

Today I speak to all whose freedom to choose has been diminished by the effects of ill-advised choices of the past. I speak specifically of choices that have led to excessive debt and addictions to food, drugs, pornography, and other patterns of thought and action that diminish one’s sense of self-worth. All of these excesses affect us individually and undermine our family relationships. Of course some debt incurred for education, a modest home, or a basic automobile may be necessary to provide for a family. Unfortunately however, additional debt is incurred when we cannot control our wants and addictive impulses. And for both debt and addiction, the hopeful solution is the same—we must turn to the Lord and follow His commandments. We must want more than anything else to change our lives so that we can break the cycle of debt and our uncontrolled wants. I pray that in the next few minutes, and throughout this conference, you will be filled with hope in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and find hope in the doctrines of His restored gospel.

Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality."

We are so grateful for Ben's job. Five months of living off of unemployment and relying on help from our parents was very humbling and I realize how lucky we are that it was just five months of unemployment rather than any longer.

I liked how Elder Hales mentioned that many of the challenges that test us in our lives are challenges that we ourselves created as consequences of previous choices. Why are we making things more difficult for ourselves?

In our current culture, with the media clogging our common sense, it is easy to see how we are allowing our priorities to be confused and muddled.

Rather than watching television programs, I have been trying to switch my kids to watching DVDs or VHS tapes as a means of avoiding commercials. I am tired of hearing my kids beg for the things advertised that they "desperately need." I am also tired of driving past fast food places and listening to my kids beg for a kids meal because this or that is the new kids meal toy, according to what they saw on a commercial.

I would love to grow my own garden, but sadly our yard doesn't get adequate sunlight enough hours for anything to really grow. I have been looking online trying to find out how to make something like the Topsy Turvy in an attempt to grow some food for the family. I have fond memories of going to my grandparents home and eating raspberries off their bushes and enjoying their garden grown tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers. My Grandma Lee would make all sorts of fabulous varieties of pickles with the cucumbers she grew in her garden. My favorite were her dill pickles. She would also make delicious homemade raspberry jam with the raspberries from her garden. When I think of provident living, I think of examples like my grandparents who did live through the Great Depression.

Ben remembers his Grandfather growing his own grapes in his yard and making grape juice every year for the family. His Grandpa Skidmore also made homemade bread so regularly that the recipe was handed out his funeral.

What are we doing to teach our children that things come from hardwork and saving? We live in a generation where a lot of work is outsourced. It is not uncommon for people to have a cleaning service, yard service, and to regularly eat out. When things break or need mending, we either throw them out and buy replacements or we call in a professional. Well, while our air conditioning had a problem recently it was, fortunately, an easy fix. Still, I can't tell you how much satisfaction came from solving the problem without making a service call.

Living providently often requires us to work hard, have discipline, and rely on the Lord. It also, in my opinion, can provide the greatest sense of well-being and peace.

I am having a difficult time teaching my kids the value of hard work. They apparently have yet to gain an appreciation for having a clean and tidy home. They are content pouring Cheerios onto the floor and crushing them between their feet and my swept and mopped floor. They are in heaven surrounded by tipped over couches with the cushions out about them creating a make-shift fort and having every toy and block and doll standing guard around them. Even after an hour of all of us working together to clean every single toy up, they still don't appreciate the hard work enough to savor even fifteen minutes of tidy before tipping it all out of place again.

Teaching the difference between wants and needs is even harder. It is especially difficult, because I myself often live in the gray area of wants and needs.

If you missed the Saturday morning session of General Conference in April and you have yet to hear or read Elder Hale's conference address in its entirety, then please take a moment to do so and to try to follow his counsel in your family. We are living in a difficult economy where it is foolish to take things for granted. It is also a really wonderful time to teach our children values that will impact their lives. I appreciated Elder Hales reminder to all of us that by living providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others.