8.28.2008

Shower Thoughts


When my can of shaving creme sputtered and died, I had only finished lathering one of my legs. I was faced with a dilemma: do I get out of the shower and drip all over the floor whilst digging through the linen closet in search of another can? Or do I shrug, rinse, and spend the rest of the day with one leg smooth and one decidedly stubbled?

Knowing my luck, one stubbled leg would absolutely guarantee that my husband would be feeling amorous that night, and I would be left feeling pretty stupid. I got out of the shower, grabbed another can, and noted that I was then down to three. Time to go buy another Costco pack..... 

Which has to be the strangest introduction to the topic of having a three-month supply that I have ever seen.

There was once a time when I never had a spare can of shaving creme. If I ran out, I'd just put it on the grocery list and pray that I remembered to actually grab the list when I went shopping. I routinely ran out of sugar, flour, and eggs. Then, about a year ago, Jared and I decided that we needed to follow the Prophet's counsel to build up our food storage. We liked the idea of having a three-month supply of things we use every day, as opposed to the {daunting} one year supply of dry goods in #10 cans a la The Dharma Initiative

We started simply. If I had something on my grocery list, I would buy three of them instead of one. Three bottles of BBQ sauce. Three tubes of toothpaste. Three jars of jelly. Why then, was I so surprised when the grocery bill turned out to be nearly three times as high? I about died. I learned to stagger my purchases and build up slowly. I learned which things were worth buying at Costco {bulk, yes, but name brand bulk} and which things to buy at Walmart. I learned that in order to have a three-month supply of chocolate, I'd have to add another pantry to our house. 

Mostly, I've learned that building and maintaining food storage is like so many aspects of obedience. It's a process. There is never a point where I can say, "I'm done! I've made it!" I'm constantly rotating it, constantly buying twenty cans of soup at a time. And contrary to my expectations, having a supply doesn't make me feel invincible to hardship. If anything, I'm acutely aware of the fact that what we have is purely a gift from Heavenly Father, that anything could happen at any time. {Although if the world ends, all that chocolate and shaving creme will be better than gold, let me tell ya.} 

I've come to see that even if we never have to rely on this stockpile of food and supplies, our efforts won't be for naught. The very act of obedience has become something sacred to me. It's but a small offering of thanks, a sign of my gratitude for all the tender mercies in my life. I've learned that the more I strive to do as I'm asked, the more I desire to do all that I'm asked. 

Now I'm off to buy diapers and condoms. What, you don't have that in your three-month supply?


5 comments:

Janae said...

Hilarious! You should start a comic strip.

Mama Yo said...

I found you through Jane's blog. You have a beautiful blog and a great sense of humor.

My husband and I are just now jumping on the "food storage" bandwagon. Decided it's time to grow up and stop relying on my parents food storage - now that we have six kids and all! Thanks for the humor - I never really did think of the condom stock pile. (Yes, we do use birth control - every child was planned!) :) You're a hoot! Thanks for the laugh, you are now in my reader!

LisAway said...

Great post! I can't wait for the day we are able to have some food storage. I love your reflections on obedience. It's so true, even if being obedient is sometimes hard, you totally come away wanting to be MORE obedient rather than feeling resentful. Awesome.

This is one heck of a blog you have here and I LOVE the photography!

Lindsey said...

Um, hi, it is me again. I just watched the Time Goes By video and I am in LOVE! Is your husband a TOTAL PROFESSIONAL? Because, he is amazing and I want to know if he is for hire. I just loved it.

Schaufele said...

hiya! i've been reading your blog all morning, and i had to comment on this one! i also stockpile, but only one certain item. toilet paper. i can never ever have enough. my husband doesn't understand why i always get more on our monthly walmart trip. but i am just so paranoid that one day i will be ...well, you know, stuck without! and we dont use paper towel so that would really be trouble! so i horde toilet paper like it's going out of style (which i really hope it doesnt!)

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