The other day a nice couple of gentlemen came to my door with a dozen cookies (with no nuts, just in case), and asked me if I had "any prayer requests." I quickly thought, and answered, "No thank you. At this time, I feel very blessed, and all of my prayers are prayers of Thanksgiving."
I realized as I closed the door, that it's been a long time since I've felt that way. Everything has come into line recently: my job, life, love, family, school, etc. I have no complaints. My dad is now cancer free, my sister has three gorgeous healthy babies whose laughter I get to enjoy often, my grandma just moved into town after living in California for my whole life, my best friend/cousin has finally found her own happiness here in Boise... everything and everyone seems to be in place.
Yet, I can't always help but wonder, when will the other shoe drop? Not to put a pessimistic view on it, but that's how life rolls, isn't it? One day you're up, then you're down - and I believe, that it is always darkest before the dawn... then somehow there is light, when you least expect it. So, how long can it stay good, and before devastation hits, and do we see it coming?
Without turning this into the one-millionth blog about the devastation caused by Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy, I do want to mention that watching the storm in her destructive path, and seeing the millions of people who can't see the light at the end of the tunnel (figuratively and literally, because as I write this, millions are still without power)... I have to believe that there will be hope and healing eventually. It is always darkest before the dawn.
Most of those who had their homes and/or properties destroyed due to Sandy will rebuild. It will take time, and it will take a lot of money. Many have insurance, some will benefit from donations, some even have a savings account in preparation for an unlikely event like this... please keep in mind, I'm not downplaying the situation here, but eventually it will get better. We, as a "One Nation Under God" have the resources and capabilities of being able to rebuild after disasters like this. We've done it before, and we'll do it again.
But let's elaborate for a second on the thought of money being necessary to restore "life as we know it." I've always been taught that it's never wise to spend every last penny, "just in case something bad were to happen." It is sort of that, "in case of emergency" scenario, like when the flight attendants give us the safety spiel before every take-off, and yet no one bothers to listen because it is more like "in the VERY unlikely event of... oh who am I kidding? Like I'm going to die in a plane crash! (insert uncomfortable/awkward laugh here)." But, let's just say you were in a "case of emergency," aren't you going to wish you had listened? Won't you be berating yourself because you wish you would have prepared?
I'll be the first one to say, it's not easy to save money. Shoot, my savings account has always hovered around the same number (shall we say $50 or so?), but I will also tell you that I know emergencies (albeit minor in comparison) have arisen without me being prepared. It's been a year since I was given the boot at 12KTRV, and it's now been 10 months since my dad announced to the family that he had cancer... I never imagined myself having to deal with situations like this - and yet, I made it through and in the end I gained a little perspective, and also a few more reasons to be thankful for the good things in life.
Maybe, if we can't bulk up the monetary savings account, just "in case of emergency," then we CAN deposit the things we do have - the things we're thankful for - and put them into a "savings plan of faith." It's all of the positive small things you may have in your life, tangible or not: the card I was mailed from a couple I met a year ago congratulating me on my new job, or the time when my little niece told me I was her best friend, or when my tulip bulbs that I labored over in the fall bloomed in the spring... All of these things; big, small, maybe insignificant, might be EXACTLY what we need "in case of emergency." The savings plan of "faith" that things WILL and always do, eventually, get better. If and when the other shoe drops, it's our experiences and memories that no person or disaster can ever take away from us, as long as we hold on to them and keep them close to our hearts.
Yes, it may sound cheesy, and it may sound like when that emergency really does arise, these seemingly unimportant relics won't make a difference. However, in this season of Thanksgiving, when we are prompted to reflect on the things we are thankful for, maybe putting a few of those things in your own savings account isn't a bad idea. After all, it couldn't hurt to have listened to that flight attendant... just in case of emergency.
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