I can still remember the smell of apples or grapes cooking in my mother’s kitchen, after we had been on a family excursion to pick apples or grapes at various places my parents had found. I can still remember the canned applesauce and grape jelly in ‘Ball’ jars lining the pantry walls, stored up for months and years to come. I can still remember the smell of tomatoes and beets cooking taken from my parents’ garden, again to be canned and stored in the pantry. To have had such a small yard, my parents’ garden yielded enough food to feed a family of seven, even through the winter months. Green beans, collard greens, onions, carrots, peppers, garlic, and turnips greens, from our garden were often stored in the deep freezer to feed the family and guests which often frequented our home for Sunday dinners.
It seems that in our fast-paced society we no longer have time to prepare for rainy days and hard times. When my father was laid off from his job for months, we never ran out of food. Maybe it was because my parents lived during the time of the ‘Great Depression’, but I believe we would do well to prepare for rainy days and difficult times. We need a rainy-day fund in all areas of our lives, food, money, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, intellectually, etc. Yes, we can store up reserves in all these areas. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to save and not spend, to store up instead of squandering. Freedom comes with surplus, and we must discipline ourselves to have enough and to spare in every area of our lives. Just as animals store food for the winter, we can learn to save and store for rainy-days and to be free to help others if needed, if we successful discipline ourselves.