Provident Living -- Or surviving the next three years of the Depression

I was talking with people whose opinions I respect, and the best estimate I got from anyone on when we will turn the corner on the recession we are in is that it will happen in about three years. Since I had been reflecting on general conference and the message that we should:

• Avoid unnecessary debt (or expenditures)
  
• Make our homes a sanctuary
• love others and make a difference for them
• receive a new heart

I reflected on those points again.

It is interesting how the progression goes from avoiding entanglement in the world to loving others to being reborn and transformed by God's love. At home we have been trying to apply all of the lessons.

We passed on buying some land this summer. If the deal went well, and over a ten year horizon it would have, it would have been money we did not need. If it did not, the loss and trouble would have been very entangling. We've also been cutting expenses here and there. Got rid of cable television, changed our phone service, will continue to make other changes. Generally trying to have less stuff (Rachel has so much she doesn't know what to do with it, in fact, for her birthday she has asked people to just give the gifts to a charity).

We've also worked more at keeping our home a place for our children and their friends. It is good to make people welcome, which helps us to reach out and embrace others.

All in all, I at least, have a long way to go. But it is good to think about things, to try to apply them, and to learn to grow. Grief and loss can close your heart. These things seem to help us heal. It has been long enough, I need to open my heart more.

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So, you would rather understand more about what is going on in the material word?

Ok:

• 1873 when men's hearts failed them and they just laid down and died.
• the effect on the employment market
• the New Deal made the depression worse (actually, many believe FDR did, but this is the short link to the current response).