Monday Message

"I have on occasion cited the need for many reservoirs in our lives to provide for our needs. I have said, “Some reservoirs are to store water. Some are to store food, as we do in our family welfare program and as Joseph did in the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty. There should also be reservoirs of knowledge to meet the future needs; reservoirs of courage to overcome the floods of fear that put uncertainty in our lives; reservoirs of physical strength to help us meet the frequent burdens of work and illness; reservoirs of goodness; reservoirs of stamina; reservoirs of faith.
“Yes, especially reservoirs of faith, so that when the world presses in upon us, we stand firm and strong; when the temptations of a decaying world about us draw on our energies, sap our spiritual vitality, and seek to pull us down, we need a storage of faith that can carry youth, and later adults, over the dull, the difficult, the terrifying moments; disappointments; disillusionments; and years of adversity, want, confusion, and frustration.
. . .Parents. .are expected to lay foundations for their children and to build the barns and tanks and bins and reservoirs." (President Spencer W. Kimball)

Times are that we need these reservoirs now while everything is loud and negative all around us. Things won't always be as they are. We must prepare for change. Things always change and not always for the best.

Soon will be the time of year people start thinking how they can tighten up their budget, how they can be more frugal. Learn all you can, just because we are not in school doesn't mean we can't learn. We have learning opportunities all around us all the time.

While you have to wait for things take a book, it's amazing what you can learn in a few minutes.

I saw a commercial that showed a lady reading her recipe off a device. While we do have this option please don't let it be the only place you have recipes. Keep your recipe file and keep your cookbooks.

With all the down-sizing that people do around the house don't convince yourself you don't need anything but your device because believe it or not they will break or stop working and are you prepared to replace all the time? Nope, and if we learn anything it will happen at the most unfortunate time. So if you get rid of your recipe file I hope it would be because you put them in a hard copy binder...you could also have a copy on your device but keep those hard copies.

Did you know you could can and dehydrate food year round? Yes, you can...

If you have potatoes that need to be used quickly peel, blanch, and dehydrate them. What about those few grapes that nobody eats? Just wash and toss in your dehydrator...

Celery is easy. Just wash cut and dry. I watch a podcast where a lady gets her celery on sale for $1.99. Now that hurts, that was on sale. She dries it as she will get several. So if you get it for less feel blessed. The time may come that we too might find ourselves with things that high....let's not waste but save food for a rainy day.

Whether you have bottled food you canned or dried remember direct sunlight is not their friend so store in a dark cool spot.

Keep haunting your thrift stores for a dehydrator, pressure canner, vacuum sealer, canning jars...

And rings and be picking up a box or two of lids when you go to get groceries, this will be a way to stock up. I know I keep harping on this, same with a sewing machine and supplies. Knowing how and not having the equipment is like not knowing, so while you haunt stores be learning how to do. 

Go get books from your library and read and learn. Learning new skills is half the battle.

I know that when things are going fine we find it harder to work on these things. Don't be led into complacency. It's easy to think we are doing well and it will always be that way so why would I need to prepare? This always makes me think of my husband's grandmother. She once said the next depression would be different, we will need a wheel barrow of money to buy a loaf of bread. Note, she didn't say if she said when... yikes.

If you know how to make bread and you were diligent in storing what it takes, even bread pans. If you have a special diet then be storing the ingredients for that as well.

I know I talk a lot about food and that is one thing but skills also are very important if you know how to stretch food that is a very good skill. Also, not wasting food like I mentioned above. 

Knowing how to mend your clothes is a great skill then move on to making your clothes.

You might find yourself short on funds knowing how to repair things will give longer life thus stretching the budget. The pieces of fabric I had been given and was just enough to make these tops so skills are just as important.