It is the Heart that Counts- Right?

There was a big mudslide about an hour north of our house that killed more than 30 people and devastated homes, roads, highways, and a community. One of the sisters in our ward at church has been helping in the cleanup efforts. She sought to organize a cleaning supply drive because when a disaster hits, people generally think food, which is great, but the real need, after talking to the Red Cross was cleaning supplies. So, with a Facebook post and email to the leaders of the various organizations in the church, the hope was to put together 500 cleaning kits. Last night. The catch was that if we could gather all the supplies by last night, Amazon would ship the supplies to the victims to arrive today. So, off we trudged to assist in the compilation efforts. B and I want our children to see service as valuable and to be quick to serve. After all, “…when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”

So we got to the church at the appointed time and no one knew what was going on. The sweet sister who was running this wasn’t there and we couldn’t find the Mormon Helping Hands vests so we could collect donations. Finally, after 45 minutes, we figured it out and headed out to the store to see if we could collect donations. Nope- to ask for donations you must call the corporate office. Too bad that we didn’t know that earlier (although the organizer did) or we could have been very successful. Ok, go buy our own donation and head back to the church. By now the sorting had been done and there wasn’t much for our kids to do so we headed home.

 

Part of me wanted to be upset because if this had been a tad more organized it could have been even more meaningful and impacted more lives for good, but then I reflect on this and realize that even the small effort is what is measured by the Lord. My children gave up their recreation in an attempt to do good in the world. That is more important than numbers and whether or not this was a super well organized event. I hope that while it wasn’t perfect, it impacted them for good and someday they will remember that we step in and assist where we can.

18 Hour Emergency Simulation

What would you do if there were a natural disaster and you lost power, water, gas, and couldn’t leave your home and medical care couldn’t reach you? How would you react? How would your family react? What preparations can you make now to better prepare for later?

For Tiger’s midterm, we did an earthquake simulation. We practiced what we would do if an earthquake hit- where would we go during the quake, what would we do after, and what do you do when the utilities that we love and take for granted were gone.

Although it was only 18 hours, we learned a few things. There are some things we were prepared for and others that we can do to be better prepared.

First- what do you do when the earthquake hits!? Initially, my children stood in the hall next to the picture frames looking at me and grinning that the simulation was starting. I asked them what they would do if it were real. Then they got under the table…

 

Review having a meeting spot- we have one but our children forgot about it. They all grouped up in a room but I wasn’t there and they weren’t with me at the meeting spot.

Phones may or may not work- this was Tiger calling B to check in.

There will be a mess and having a safe way to contain the baby is important. We had downed cans and broken glass (simulated by rice on the floor) to keep the baby out of. Before we did any cleaning up, we set up a baby-safe area right away.

Eating dinner in the dark is kind of fun. But having enough light is important. We only had 6 tea lights going. We should have had the larger candle holder that puts the light higher to reflect.

Having a box with all our picnic supplies available was REALLY nice. Without water, dinner cleanup is a pain so paper products was nice. Obviously in a real emergency these would get used up, but for the first 72 hours having them will make life so much easier.

I don’t mind being without power for a few hours or even 24 hours, but not having running water is not fun. We drained water off our water heater to use, but we didn’t want to use it up because if the situation were real, how far would 40 gallons go? We wanted to practice conserving water and finding water. Below are some pictures of us getting creative- since we had no water and it was raining, we put buckets outside to collect rain water.

Lesson learned: Fill up water barrels, obtain rain barrels, make sure to have an adequate utensil easily accessible to open the water heater faucet and turn it off properly to access the water. Additionally, we need to set up our water filter buckets. I used to think I was fine- I do own a water distiller (which sadly has been broken for a bit) but I would be out of luck without some sort of power… I then bought a ceramic gravity fed filter.

I love my butane stove! I wish I had 2. Cooking for a family of 7 on 1 burner takes time. Some things need a griddle and I can’t do that with 1. If I had 2 I could put them side by side and create a space for a griddle. Also, I would be able to cook in both the top and bottom of my thermal cooker at the same time if I had 2 stoves. This would extend the amount of cooking I could do with the butane cans.

Being without amenities can be unsettling to children who don’t understand what is going on. Strawberry kept asking me to turn on the lights. She also asked when our practice would be over. She did not like the lack of lights or water. In a real situation, it would have been nice to have some sort of toy to give her to help occupy her while we were cleaning up and trying to get dinner started and to help her not feel stressed.

The morning after the simulation began, we finished packing up food and some extra supplies in a kit- a roll of blue tape and permanent marker made it into our box as well as scissors. I need to buy a lighter to add as well. I also added some paper bowls and plastic spoons and baggies to get us through at least one meal without having to get into the picnic box. Also, I added some chocolate chip bunny crackers- a treat to brighten an emergency. The food we included was 8 cans of veggie soup, some fruit squeeze sauces, 2 cups of chia seeds, a can of freeze dried peaches, rice milk in aseptic packing, Lara bars, and bunny crackers. We also have flashlights, a radio, batteries, sponges, diaper wipes, trash bags, and a few other odds and ends. 

Other lessons:

We had most of the items we would have needed, but not all of them were easily accessible.. For example, B determined that for the simulation, Tiger would have a broken foot. I couldn’t find the crutches anywhere because B had put them up higher than I could reach or see.

Emergency Preparedness?

What would you do in a natural disaster? Would your children know what to do if there was an earthquake? How would you cook? What would you do if there were no water? My family is about to find out. We are going to be doing a natural disaster simulation. We will be going without power, water, and gas for 24 hours. Since it is only a simulation, we are leaving our refrigerator and freezer powered so we don’t lose food, and we won’t be turning the gas off at the source- just not using the gas fireplace, stove, or furnace.

Some of my kids are dreading this and others are really excited.  Those that are dreading it are only dreading that they don’t know when it will happen and they are hoping that nothing fun/important is impacted.

Originally, we set about to do this because it is Tiger’s midterm, but now, we are doing it for ourselves. B went through and created a realistic scenario (parents were provided some scenarios but none were super realistic or necessarily applicable to our area) and put together the plan. Now I will need to execute it.

See you in 24 hours- hopefully I will have some decent pictures.

Teaching the Law of Consecration FHE

The scriptures teach of loving a neighbor and giving to the poor and needy. This is a great principle, but how much more important is it in a family? Elder Jeffery R. Holland, in a conference talk in April 2012 said,

“Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.”

We have noticed that in our home, especially from some children, we are in need of more consecration of time and talents. So, B and I devised the following lesson to help the children see that no one will go without when we work together and put in our whole efforts.

First I gathered a couple of items that the children either need, love, or are passionate about. I also grabbed a few baby items and items that belonged to B so that he would need to provide for himself as well as for the baby. 

Then I gave every person a list of 10 small chores to do to represent their day’s work. Each person had a list that was tailored to his or her abilities. While they were doing their chores, I set up the store. I used a pile of beads as money. On the white board I listed every item. I made sure that all the items to be purchased would cost 50 beads but that some people would not be able to purchase their goods with their wages. I also made sure that 1 had leftover beads and someone came out even. 

When everyone returned from work, they were each paid 10 beads.

Then I announced that I was the bishop so they could pay their tithing to the Lord. They all paid their tithing and were left with 9 beads.

Then I announced I was the shop keeper and they had to purchase ALL their own belongings. I showed them what was on the table as well as the list on the board. I did NOT point out that they would have to make decisions on what could be purchased. It was fun to watch what the kids picked first.

As they purchased their items, Tiger came to me and asked to purchase his last item. I asked for payment and he was horrified that he couldn’t pay. He got a bit upset since he didn’t quite get the purpose of the lesson yet and was worried I would keep his items. I reassured him and continued to sell the items on the table. Butterfly purchased everything and came out even. Pumpkin Pie tried to buy her last item but was short beads so hers remained as well. Strawberry had a fist with extra beads clutched tight. B consciously did not purchase any toys for the baby, but he also was unable to buy his tools for work. oops.

We then talked about how some had left over beads, some weren’t able to “purchase” the things they needed, and some had just enough. We talked about how it felt to not have quite enough for the needs, and a little about budgeting. We also talked about how our experience mirrored real life. Then we asked what would happen if we worked together.

As you can see, Tiger was not happy!

All the items were placed back on the table and we did a “rewind.” The children and B were again “paid” for their work, but this time, all were asked to contribute all they had to the bishop. Again, Tiger struggled with this one- after all, it might not be fair! He was worried that someone might get more than his share. Then, I switched hats and became the shopkeeper again. For the sake of time, we had the children purchase all their items at once. (I had already totaled up what their orders would cost so I charged that amount out of the total pile of beads contributed to the family fund.) After all the items were purchased, Pumpkin Pie asked if I had any extra- nope- the fund was used and, as seen below, the table was empty. Everyone had everything that he or she needed, was passionate about, and even some things that he or she wanted.

Then we had a brief discussion about how they all felt to have their needs met. We talked about how in a family, the resources are shared and just because one receives, doesn’t mean someone else is going to miss out. As the stewards of the family, B and I work to do our best to distribute the resources according to needs rather than equal dollar amounts to each child or some other method.

After the lesson, I spoke a bit more to Tiger and Butterfly about socialism vs. the Law of Consecration and what the differences were. The biggest being God’s law and choice vs. man trying to legislate choice. Stewards acting for the good of all according to the Spirit of God vs. man trying to gain power and get re-elected. The heart of the receiver as desiring to contribute vs. feeling entitled. I also had a great discussion about heart and why Tiger felt the way he did during the lesson. I think all in all, this was one of the best family home evening lessons we have had. The children seemed to really understand why it is important for all to contribute their best to the family. They also understood that each one will contribute differently and to different degrees because of their ages, but if all contribute, we all benefit.