May 1983, Blessing Day for Jeffrey at the West Palm Beach Chapel on Carandis Road. Curt was 22 months old. Right around this time, Curt was not sure about sharing life with this little baby brother. Curt asked me more than once, "When is his mom coming to pick him up?"
Photos like these become more and more precious as the years march on.
I look at this photo and think about life at that moment. I was a very sleep deprived young mother juggling the major calling of Relief Society President in a very "high needs" Ward along with having a husband who was studying for his Florida State General Contractors Exam=he was not home much. Somehow, I was able to balance the demands of that season and look back with a smile. Our little family was blessed beyond description and I would not trade each opportunity we have had to grow and learn.
During this period, there were many needy families at Church. There were times when I would have up to ten families I had to purchase groceries for in one week. This was before Bishop's Storehouses and Distribution Centers in South Florida. I would go to the grocery store late in the evening after Ron was home so I could leave the babies home. I had to purchase 2 weeks of food at one time for each family. Some of the families had many children and this would make for a large food order. It would fill up my little Honda Accord. Most of this had to be done by me and could not be delegated for various reasons. Many times, I would wonder how I would even get my own family's groceries purchased and prepared for the week.
One evening, after shopping for a large family, I was very tired and did not have the best attitude.I wanted to put off shopping for them until the next day, but felt a pressing need to get their grocery order filled and delivered that evening. I went to their home to deliver their groceries. It was very quiet, all the children were in bed asleep. The mother helped unload the car. I went inside to put a few things away. As I opened the refrigerator, all that was in the refrigerator was a Ketchup bottle with about an inch of ketchup left. The cupboards were totally bare. I realized that the family had gone to bed hungry. How humbling for me. What an immediate attitude shift I had. Realizing that the children would be able to eat a healthy breakfast warmed my heart. This was a life changing lesson for me in following the promptings that come even if they are not convenient. This was also an experience that gave me wisdom far beyond my 22 years, something I had been promised as I was set apart to serve.
While serving others, it is clear that our family has received much more than we have given.
2 comments:
That is an amazing story. Shauna, I just love this post. It is so cool what the church can do for people in need too. My neighbor works for the part of the church that sends relief in a crisis. He told me during hurricane Katrina to look for these blue tarps that came from the church when they would do the overhead shots from helicopter of the devastation. It seemed like a sea of blue. I loved the story that conference about the truck drivers going as fast as they could drive. If you're in trouble, you want to know that help is coming as fast as they can go! :)
Living in the land of Hurricanes, I can tell you.. the Blue tarps for roofs are more valuable than gold during storm recovery and rebuilding. The LDS Church was the ONLY source for those Blue Tarps when we had Frances and Jeanne so close together. The Government ran out is short order and up the LDS Church stepped with an arsenal of Blue Tarps.
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