Catching the Vision of Self-Reliance.

Did anyone else have the chance to read THIS section from the Ensign this month? Providing in the Lords way, 75 Years of Living Providently, Catching the Vision of Self Reliance, Increasing Our compassionate Service by Following the Savior, The Strength of many, And Making Principles of Welfare Part of Your Life.  
My sweet Buby {That's Mike} knows that I am really slow to read the Ensign every month. I usually get around to it, it just takes me a few days to get to. But I came down to the computer desk this morning and he had opened the page to the section on provident living. I think he knew it would catch my eye. So of course I read it, and I can tell you that I am so excited to have a bit more knowledge on the history of provident living in the church. I am so grateful to have this knowledge and have made it a goal to continually live providently for the rest of well, forever. Mike and I have lived paycheck to paycheck, and had an empty pantry until payday. We have also had more than enough for our needs, and in the past have been very slothful stewards of what the Lord so generously blessed us with. I can tell you that I did not know what true NEEDS were. Neither are a way of life I ever want to go back to. I can't tell you the peace that comes from knowing that if something happened to Mike or his job we would have sufficient for our needs for quite some time. Or if in these crazy times of economic and environmental uncertainty, we would have enough food to fill our bellies, if the crops failed for a season. {It's happened, and it is happening now,  Do you watch the news?} I don't say this to scare people or for someone to think I'm crazy, but I can tell you that I feel an obligation to help others learn to help themselves. I also don't write this to sound proud or brag of the things we have. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice to get to where we are. But I wouldn't trade any of it for the immediate wants of the flesh. Not buying everything I want so that I can afford the things I MAY need, have paid off in the feeling of peace and security. We still have a long way to go. We still have to BUY a house, {and no, I don't mean have a mortgage for 30 years I mean we still have to find a house and pay it off... NO MORTGAGE} Yes, it's 15 or so years down the road,  We still have to continue to stick to a budget, We still have to fund all of our retirement, We still have many missions to pay for, The list goes on and on and on, But we have made a conscious effort to be wise stewards of the things the Lord blesses us with, and to help those in need, to be generous with our time and talents and the monetary things of this world that we have been blessed with. I can promise you that the more generous that you are with helping others the Lord will be a hundred times more generous with the blessings he grants you.