I found this great write-up by him recently and it really helped me through one of my days/moments. I will need several of these uplifting reminders. I know God puts these in my lap as I continue to try and turn to God and the Savior during any of the trials I have faced or will face:
On March 22nd, just a few weeks ago, I stood on the stage at the Time
Out for Women event in Indianapolis and I began with a comedy sketch I
remembered from the country-music variety show, “Hee Haw.”
Barber: My uncle died.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad.
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: Why?
Barber: He left me $50,000.
Customer: Oh, that’s good.
Barber: No, that’s bad.
Customer: How come?
Barber: The taxes were $25,000.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad.
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: Why?
Barber: I had enough to buy an airplane.
Customer: Oh, that’s good.
Barber: No, that’s bad
Customer: Why?
Barber: ‘Cause I fell out while doing a loop de loop.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: How come?
Barber: I saw a haystack below...
You get the idea. My point was, that each of us can look back at our lives and see that difficult times often bring wonderful blessings, given a little time and perspective.
Well, that was Friday night. I returned home late on Saturday night, and resumed my bishoply duties on Sunday. A couple of days later, Tuesday March 26th to be exact, my wife and I were debating whether the pinewood derby for the cub scouts began at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm. At about 6:29 pm, we discovered we had exactly one minute to get to the event, so hollered to the kids, “get in the car” and we quickly gathered the family of eight into the SUV and took off.
About 7:51 pm, my cell phone rang, and it was my first counselor. Bob’s chilling words, as I recall, were “Bishop, there’s about four fire trucks in front of your house you’d better come home now! What’s your garage code?” I could hardly remember my name, let alone my garage door code. I told my wife there was trouble at home and left the building. I could hear numerous sirens and could see the smoke in the sky when I was still a few blocks away. That’s a sick feeling.
It turns out my children had been watching the Food network or some cooking show and wanted to try deep frying some chicken wings, but they had left the oil on the stove, and hadn’t turned the heat off in our rush to get out the door.
The fireman were there in four minutes after the initial call, and the fire was out in six. They were awesome. But our kitchen was destroyed, and the entire house smoke damaged.
Over the next 24 hours, I witnessed some of the finest acts of kindness and Christlike service I had ever seen in my life. To prevent looting (which another family in our neighborhood experienced after a fire), my Elder’s quorum organized a night watch program. These fine men, these brothers in the gospel, sat in their cars in my driveway all night long, taking one of three shifts – “midnight to 2 am,” “2 am to 4 am.” and “4 am to 6 am.” They did this for the next three nights. Other members brought us breakfast bagels, sub sandwiches, and flowers. One dear sister, without being asked, found my Sunday suit and some shirts and took them to the dry cleaners so they would be ready for Sunday. Some handed me envelopes full of cash! Among other things, this enabled us to get some temporary clothes while ours were being cleaned (I bought a shirt and pants for $10 at Deseret Industries and wore them for the next three days). My wife’s parents took us in and we slept on floors, couches and the bed of the son away at school.
Over the next 48 hours we received dozens of phone calls and texts, offers for every service imaginable, and reports that our family was now on the temple prayer rolls. “Angels will be dispatched,” texted Wendy, a friend and fellow Time Out presenter. It was incredibly humbling. More than once, I thought to myself, “I don’t deserve to be treated so nicely!” (I concluded, however, that my wife did).
My love for my dear ward members grew immensely that day, and over the next few days as I puttered around the dark and smoky house locating things I knew I needed immediately, and identifying those that could be boxed up and deodorized by the restoration company.
I must admit, my furrowed brow and worried countenance brightened
considerably when the insurance adjuster and the restoration company
agreed that we would need a new kitchen, new carpet, new floors, and
that most of the smoke-saturated sheet rock would have to be removed,
replaced and repainted – all covered by insurance.
A tragedy?
No.
My family of eight, one cat and two geckos were safe. It could have been so much worse. We are so grateful to the Lord for his mercies.
An inconvenience?
Yes, but we’re being taken care of by family, neighbors and friends.
An experience which highlighted the goodness of the people I’m surrounded with?
Absolutely. I will never, ever forget all the kindnesses – and I want to be sure when one of my neighbors is in trouble, I can be there for them in the same way.
“Bishop, you had a house fire”
“Oh, that’s bad.”
“No, that’s good....”
Or, as the scriptures say, “All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory saith the Lord” (D&C 98:3; see also Romans 8:28, D&C 90:24, 100:15).
Barber: My uncle died.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad.
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: Why?
Barber: He left me $50,000.
Customer: Oh, that’s good.
Barber: No, that’s bad.
Customer: How come?
Barber: The taxes were $25,000.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad.
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: Why?
Barber: I had enough to buy an airplane.
Customer: Oh, that’s good.
Barber: No, that’s bad
Customer: Why?
Barber: ‘Cause I fell out while doing a loop de loop.
Customer: Oh, that’s bad
Barber: No, that’s good.
Customer: How come?
Barber: I saw a haystack below...
You get the idea. My point was, that each of us can look back at our lives and see that difficult times often bring wonderful blessings, given a little time and perspective.
Well, that was Friday night. I returned home late on Saturday night, and resumed my bishoply duties on Sunday. A couple of days later, Tuesday March 26th to be exact, my wife and I were debating whether the pinewood derby for the cub scouts began at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm. At about 6:29 pm, we discovered we had exactly one minute to get to the event, so hollered to the kids, “get in the car” and we quickly gathered the family of eight into the SUV and took off.
About 7:51 pm, my cell phone rang, and it was my first counselor. Bob’s chilling words, as I recall, were “Bishop, there’s about four fire trucks in front of your house you’d better come home now! What’s your garage code?” I could hardly remember my name, let alone my garage door code. I told my wife there was trouble at home and left the building. I could hear numerous sirens and could see the smoke in the sky when I was still a few blocks away. That’s a sick feeling.
It turns out my children had been watching the Food network or some cooking show and wanted to try deep frying some chicken wings, but they had left the oil on the stove, and hadn’t turned the heat off in our rush to get out the door.
The fireman were there in four minutes after the initial call, and the fire was out in six. They were awesome. But our kitchen was destroyed, and the entire house smoke damaged.
Over the next 24 hours, I witnessed some of the finest acts of kindness and Christlike service I had ever seen in my life. To prevent looting (which another family in our neighborhood experienced after a fire), my Elder’s quorum organized a night watch program. These fine men, these brothers in the gospel, sat in their cars in my driveway all night long, taking one of three shifts – “midnight to 2 am,” “2 am to 4 am.” and “4 am to 6 am.” They did this for the next three nights. Other members brought us breakfast bagels, sub sandwiches, and flowers. One dear sister, without being asked, found my Sunday suit and some shirts and took them to the dry cleaners so they would be ready for Sunday. Some handed me envelopes full of cash! Among other things, this enabled us to get some temporary clothes while ours were being cleaned (I bought a shirt and pants for $10 at Deseret Industries and wore them for the next three days). My wife’s parents took us in and we slept on floors, couches and the bed of the son away at school.
Over the next 48 hours we received dozens of phone calls and texts, offers for every service imaginable, and reports that our family was now on the temple prayer rolls. “Angels will be dispatched,” texted Wendy, a friend and fellow Time Out presenter. It was incredibly humbling. More than once, I thought to myself, “I don’t deserve to be treated so nicely!” (I concluded, however, that my wife did).
My love for my dear ward members grew immensely that day, and over the next few days as I puttered around the dark and smoky house locating things I knew I needed immediately, and identifying those that could be boxed up and deodorized by the restoration company.
A tragedy?
No.
My family of eight, one cat and two geckos were safe. It could have been so much worse. We are so grateful to the Lord for his mercies.
An inconvenience?
Yes, but we’re being taken care of by family, neighbors and friends.
An experience which highlighted the goodness of the people I’m surrounded with?
Absolutely. I will never, ever forget all the kindnesses – and I want to be sure when one of my neighbors is in trouble, I can be there for them in the same way.
“Bishop, you had a house fire”
“Oh, that’s bad.”
“No, that’s good....”
Or, as the scriptures say, “All things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory saith the Lord” (D&C 98:3; see also Romans 8:28, D&C 90:24, 100:15).
No comments:
Post a Comment