Trusting Spiders

I was standing at the sink in my bathroom washing my face at the close of a seemingly uneventful Wednesday when a small movement on the wall to the right of me caught my attention. I turned my head and saw a small, brown spider taking a jaunt up the wall and in no time it was headed across the door frame and then back up the wall again towards the ceiling. Feeling generous, and perhaps a little over confident concerning the good nature I was positive this spider possessed, I decided to spare its life and let it proceed with whatever plans it had for the night.
I went on with my face washing and was right in the middle of wondering how many other people noticed my stray eyebrow before I did when . . . WHAT THE?! My spider decided to get a friend and pay me a visit by dropping vertically on their invisible webs at lightning speed! I instantly began an intense boxing match with myself in an effort to get my friend turned foe off of my shoulder, and, if nothing else, away from my face. I need this face!

I saw one spider fall to the floor and make a run for its life while the other fell into the sink and did a backstroke down the drain to what I hope was a watery grave.

This is the actual culprit... Looks friendly enough, right?

Oftentimes, seemingly small and harmless things creep into our lives. We are confident that these things. . . Weaknesses, temptations, will have no lasting effects on us and certainly lack the power to knock us down. Believe it or not, there are people who like spiders, but that doesn't make their bite any less poisonous to them than it would be for a person who despised them. Just because we like something, doesn't make it right or any less harmful.

There seems to be a confusion plaguing the entire world on whether or not there is a definite line between right and wrong or good and evil. What is right for some, others will certainly argue is wrong and vice-versa. The two sides will then proceed to fight aimlessly to protect their cause.

Here is an unpopular belief: The Lord Himself has drawn a sure line between good and evil, right and wrong. No matter how hard we try we cannot change the laws of God. As much as I would have liked for that spider in my bathroom to be friendly and non-aggressive, I couldn't change it!
2 Nephi 15:20 - "Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."

This whole experience has caused me to reflect back about 24 years ago to a time when I saw this video. I would have been five or six years old, but I remember it and have recently found it. It's worth the time to watch!

- Mandie

Who is My Neighbor?

        One of my favorite subjects when I was in school was history. When we come to understand history, then we can also understand how we came to be where we are at today.

         In the history of the world it seems that there has always been a division among people. The division always stems from some sort of difference, whether it be political, religious, cultural or something else, the difference is always the root of the division.

         One of these great divisions took place during the time of Christ and was between the Jews and the Samaritans. Because of wars and religious differences the Jews had "no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9). In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus could have very easily used a Jew instead of a Samaritan as the person who came to the rescue of the Jewish man who had been robbed, beaten and left to die on the road, but perhaps, and I think certainly, the point of the parable was not to teach the importance of having love and compassion for those who share the same lifestyle and look the same as us, but to have that same love for all people despite our differences. (Luke 10:25-37)

        So, as I sit home on this day in commemoration of a man who lost his life trying to close the division that existed between people in our own country, I will not ask, "Who is my neighbor?", but will instead think of the words by Martin Luther King Jr: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?'"

-Mandie

Disruptions Are For the Birds... Or Not

I looked out the window this morning and found a million blackbirds making themselves at home out in the yard. They were everywhere! I watched about 5 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" a couple of years ago, and that 5 minutes was enough for me to realize that movie and swarms of birds is not really my thing! I wasn't going to go outside, but I was happy to let Winston go out into the flock!
Some of you know Winston, some of you don't. Winston is the worlds biggest chicken among dogs. He is afraid of everything and had no idea what awaited him in the great outdoors this morning.

It started with just one little bird. 

Once Winston realized he had feathered strangers in his territory, he suddenly became the bravest dog in the world! He chased the bird, and then he chased a group of birds and then he found the flock, and the flock was not scared! 

Had Winston been a real dog, he could have easily sprung into action and one of the birds could have met a drool covered fate. However, today was the birds' lucky day, and they got the best of the "predator" in the grass. They are probably still laughing!

I learned a lot from the birds vs. Winston scenario. Most importantly I learned that as I sit atop my post in life, I need to be ready to react when acted upon. Winston was not very stealthy and surely the birds heard him coming, but the things that are sent to disrupt my life usually hit when I am least expecting them! They come quietly, but forcefully! I am learning that I cannot sit and just wait for the disruption to leave, that just doesn't happen! 

-Mandie 

   

Take Your Bucket and Run!

Quite a few years ago, I was called to be the Ward Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. There has never been a calling worse fit for me than that one. Was it really a good idea to ask the 20 something year old who had no family, no house, no experience, and no idea and who lived on frozen burritos and potato chips to advise the entire ward in the importance of Emergency Preparedness? I'm still laughing thinking about the ridiculousness of the situation! I agreed to give it a try and went home with the fate of the ward in my hands (okay, so maybe not. . . But maybe)!
I spent very small amounts of my time reading up on what emergency we were most likely to face here in our area... Earthquake, duh! And then came up with one of the most genius plans human kind has ever known... 72 Hour Kits! What? Someone already invented that?! Thank goodness, because I had no idea what to put in one! I did do quite a bit of research in the field of 72 hour kit preparation as I was scheduled to present to the entire ward Relief Society how to make one, and since they take those kinds of things to heart and take the presenters idea and run right out and make one of their own, I wanted to give them information that would be useful.
Let me present to you the 72 Hour Bucket:

This is simply a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. I put a little "cush" on the lid and voila! The 72 hour kit becomes a 72 hour chair! 

I put my math skills to the ultimate test and discovered that 72 hours equals 3 days! If worse comes to worse, I have to survive for 3 days using only the contents of my bucket? Also, the point of the kit is to have something you can grab quickly and run for the hills in case some sort if disaster makes it impossible to stay in your house and live off of what is already there. My bucket weighs about 20 pounds, and after I heft it about 20 feet I might have to sit down and take a breather, hence the cushion on the top!

Here's what I decided to put inside:

Looks like it's going to be a long 3 days!

I'm sure I could survive off of the things I have here, but after reading Angela's blog post about 72 hour kits (Angela, I hope you don't mind but I'm about to share the link!) I feel like she is going to be in the wilderness eating 5 star meals and I'm going to be huddled under my bucket trying to chew open my 5 year passed expiration date canned ham because I failed to put a can opener in the bucket! 

Here's the link to Angela's 72 hour kit:

http://foodstorageandsurvival.com/72-hour-survival-kits/

Needless to say, I don't think I excelled in the Emergency Preparedness calling. Do I think being prepared is important? Absolutely! Do I think it's becoming more important every day? Absolutely! Is all of the food in my bucket at least 5 years passed the due date because I didn't keep my 72 hour kit current? Absolutely! Have I been enjoying the string of power outages we have been blessed with in our area lately? Absolutely not! Do I think they are a sign of things to come and have shown me exactly how unprepared I really am? Absolutely! (More on the power outages in a later post) 

                                         I was just impressed with myself for fitting it all in there!

To wrap this up let me just say, you should probably not count on the people around you to be prepared enough to rescue you in an emergency, because chances are, they are less prepared than you are!

-Mandie

Storms in the Garden

I have been learning some things while I have been away from my career as a full time blogger (full time being  around 32 minutes per week). Some of these things I have learned have been serious and thought provoking, some are a little funny and some were accidental. I think I'll start off the week with one of the more serious things.
I know you have all been on the edges of your seats hoping for an update on my luscious garden. I know what you're thinking: By now those little plants should be taller, greener, beautiful and well on their way to producing some of the finest produce in all of Clawson. Before I get to that, I would like to point out that I told you all up front that I am not a gardener.

And now, the sad reality that is my garden.

It's like the cup in the window, only much bigger! 

 Yes, that is a trench where my precious plants once harbored. Because I like things to be centered, I planted my plants right in the middle of the boxes without looking up and pondering on the consequences if, by chance, a rainstorm rolled through and the water ran off the house and into my garden. And that is exactly what happened. Within a matter of days after laboring tirelessly over the little plants, 3 days of rain fell upon our parched land. The house became a waterfall and the garden became a rolling river. I had given up hope and abandoned my crop. The dogs were happy with that choice and made the dirt pits their new playground and loved sinking their little paws into the soft sand, hence the holes! Finally, the day came that I had to go out and access the full spectrum of damage. The cracked dirt, the dog holes, the massive trench all led me to believe that there were no survivors, but then there it was. One little tomato plant with its leaves and stem encrusted into the sand. It was still green! And as I looked closer I found three more! Four of my tomatoes had the strength to withstand the storm!

Look closely, you'll see it! 

So, maybe I'm not a gardener, but my garden became a teacher and here is what I learned:

* We can't stay in the shelter forever. Eventually we have to leave our safe places and throw ourselves into life!

* Life is hard. It's supposed to be! If it weren't we would be feeble forever because we would have no need for strength if nothing ever tried our strength.

* The storms will hit when they are least expected. The purpose of the storm is to wash away the weak among us and let the strong prove how strong they really are. Don't let it wash you away. Even if you are beaten completely into the ground, don't give up!

* After the storm hits, there is still hope! Don't abandon everything just because you think there is no hope! Perhaps you are the survivor, or perhaps the survivors are waiting for you to rescue them from the trenches. Don't just turn away, run to help them! If you're the one in the trench, there is no shame in calling out for help! 

* Just because someone does not run to your aid instantly, doesn't mean they don't care.

* When we turn our backs on others or when we decide to give up, the dogs are waiting to take over and finish the job of destroying. 

* It is possible to beat the storm!

"Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes he lets the storm rage, and calms his child." 

- Mandie