I Can Sleep When the Wind Blows

(I used this as a handout for my R.S. lesson last week. Bountiful Temple.)

For almost 25 years we lived in the Gainesville, Florida Stake.  Our Stake Motto was "When the Blows" and is based on the following story. Over the years this has been a strength and has brought me peace during the storms of life.  I couldn't help but think of it as we prepared for Hurricane Sandy.  Who knew we'd be preparing for a hurricane in south central Pennsylvania.


      "It was the annual county fair, and farmers from far and near had come to exhibit their harvest and to engage hired hands for the next year. One prosperous farmer came across a husky lad and asked: "What can you do?" The answer:
"'I can sleep when the wind blows.'
"With such an answer the farmer turned and started to walk away, perturbed at the impudence of the man: But he turned and asked again: 'What did you say?'
"I can sleep when the wind blows.'
"Well,' said the farmer, 'I don't know what that means, but I'm going to hire you anyway.'
"Winter came, followed by the usual spring, and the new hired hand didn't show any particular signs of extra work, but filled the duties of his calling as most others would have done.
"And then one night in early summer the farmer noticed a strong wind rising. He dashed to the hired hand's quarters to arouse him to see that all the stock was properly cared for. There he found the hired hand asleep. He was about to awaken him when he remembered the boy's strange statement.
"He went to his barns and there found all his animals in their places, and the doors and windows securely locked. He found that the haystack had been crisscrossed with heavy wires, anticipating such a night, and that it would weather the storm.
"Then the farmer knew what his hired man meant when he gave his only qualification, 'I can sleep when the wind blows."
(Instructor, Dec. 1967)


As Latter-Day Saints and former Florida residents we were probably more prepared and less anxious than most in our area.  There are some situations that you can never fully prepare for.  There's not much you can do against a tornado or flooding and other natural disasters, but we know that we do as much as we can and leave the rest to the Lord.  I heard a few people who were leaving it up to the Lord without doing much on their part.  I don't think that's the best plan.  In our area, I'm sure there are many people who feel we over prepared, but I would rather be safe than sorry.  We've learned over the years that you never know which path the storm may take, it may be headed straight for you and take a sudden turn or just when you think you're in the clear you find your self in the eye of the storm bracing for the worst.  Life can be pretty miserable if you aren't prepared as well as you can be.  That brings to mind a quote from President Thomas S. Monson from the April 2006 General Conference. "When the time for performance arrives, the time for preparation is past."

 We often get a bit of water in the basement after a heavy rain so we decided to do our best to keep as much water as possible out.  During an over night storm a while back the basement windows filled like aquariums and water was shooting into the basement.  (While I was sleeping like a baby, Matt was busy moving boxes out of the flood zone and laying things out to dry.) After 48 hours of steady rain we are nice and dry.  It may not be pretty, but it was worth the effort.

Hot water just in case.  I remembered how long the water stayed hot after a ward hayride where we had hot cocoa.  We were planning on storing water anyway, why not having some hot.

 Oil in the lamps!  During hurricane Katrina I waited a little long to buy oil and there was none to be found. I never wanted to be in that position again, so I stocked up.  If I never need it, that's ok.  I'll always have some to share.

 Thanks to Staples and "Free after Rebate"  or rewards we have quite a few batteries.  We've learned that the smaller flashlights that take smaller batteries can often shine just as bright and the batteries seem to last a bit longer and are more affordable.  (This time of year Staples often has 100% back on AA and AAA batteries.  Often two a week for several weeks.  Last year they did it for six weeks in a row.  We just use the rewards for toner, paper and supplies.  Everyone got batteries in their stockings last Christmas.)

 Ice.

 You never know if the water supply will be affected. 

 Rain and more rain. Grateful that that other than a few wind gusts that's all we're dealing with. That and two wild and crazy dogs, one who won't go ut in the rain, and one who won't come in out of the rain once he has the chance to get out.

We haven't always been as prepared as we are now.  We haven't always had the financial means to get the extras that we have now, but we've always tried to do all within our means to be ready. With each storm we add a bit to our supply.  We hope to never need our generator of kerosene heater, but I'm grateful we have them if the need arises.

The Bishop is calling. Time to see how our ward family is managing during the storm.

Our prayers go out to all those impacted by this storm.

P.S. 11.11.12
We only had a few families in our ward lose power for just a bit, one sister was flooded out of her neighborhood, other than that we all weathered the storm just fine.

A few days ago Matt was asked to be the coordinator for the east side of our stake's New Jersey Hurricane Sandy service groups.  Our stake will have 50 brethren go to New Jersey each weekend from now until Christmas. I'll post more as things develop.

This is a priesthood assignment and sisters are not asked to go at this time.  We are trying to organize needed items to be delivered when the brothers go to serve.  One sister in our ward and another in the ward that share our building are really pushing for us to gather coats, blankets, hygiene supplies, etc with hopes to send what we can each week.