Learning from Tragedy

Sometimes when tragedy strikes, not only do you feel a wave of compassion in your heart, but you start wondering about your own life. Am I ready?  How would I react? I don't mean this post to be gloomy, but rather a way to learn from the events around us so we can live more fully and be more prepared.  This week we've had one thing happen after another that remind me how blessed I am and I wonder how prepared am I if something were to happen to me?

This last Sunday, we found out that one of our neighbors in our ward at church just lost their 9 month old in a tragic accident. There are no words to describe how I would feel if I lost Gideon. He is my whole life. Sometimes I take him and the time I get to spend with him as a stay-at-home mom for granted, but he brings love and joy to our family every day. What would you do if you lost a child, spouse, parent, or sibling?

Sometimes things in our life are both a blessing and a curse. For example, in our apartment here in WA we have a shared laundry facility in the room right next to our apartment. In it there's one washer and one dryer. The dryer looks like it was at one time intended to be coin operated because the coin slot is there and marked, however, you don't have to actually put in any coins to make it go.  Nice!  The other nice thing about it is that it doesn't just go for so many minutes and then you have to add coins like a normal laundromat, it just keeps going until you open the door. While we never have to worry about wet/damp clothing, this brings a concern about a fire hazard. To make this concern even more real, someone put laundry in the dryer Sunday night, probably between 11pm and midnight. At 4am, when Gideon woke me up, it was still going (I'm assuming it was the same load). They STILL haven't come back for it. Maybe they forgot, I mean its just a few rags, but if Gideon hadn't got me up and we hadn't lived right through the wall from the laundry room I'm pretty sure our whole complex would be burnt to the ground by now. What would you do if your home was destroyed? 

Then we just heard about Oklahoma and the HUGE tornado that just ripped through their lives. In the wake of Sandy, Katrina, tsunamis, and all the other recent turmoil what would you do if a natural disaster happened to you?  What danger zones do you live in?  I have family in Utah and Nebraska and am suddenly very aware of the huge earthquake that's overdue in Utah and that Nebraska is also in Tornado Alley. I have no idea what Washington is known for and hope I don't find out the wrong way!  What if disaster strikes?  In some cases you can prepare, but for the people of Oklahoma, all they could have done is made a shelter to protect themselves during the tornado itself, even then the news said the tornado ripped into cellars and other protective places. If they had food storage its gone. 72 hour kits? Gone. They are lucky to simply be alive.

The news said we are in a new era of weather patterns. Record heat, drought, storms, etc. as was prophesied for our times in days of old. As we turn to the Lord we can find comfort and peace, which may get harder and harder to find elsewhere. I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the security I feel through Him. May God be with us all.