In These Uncertain Times

My daughter-in-law had never seen the show, The Waltons, before the other night. When she did get a quick chance to view some of the show, she surprisingly remarked that the kitchen (1930/40's era) looked like mine...it was the highest complement! I've worked hard making my kitchen look like classic "farmhouse." Included on a shelf are a couple of framed pages from a notebook I found when we moved into our home. My husband's grandparents made a lot of notes within those pages. It is a fascinating glimpse into their Depression era life.

The above photo shows the page that has a pickling recipe on the bottom and on the top, some carefully written notes from hay and hogs being sold and the price they brought. It's dated, December, 1929 - three months after the stock market crash...the Great Depression had begun.

I wonder if Grandpa McClain was worried about how they were going to survive when he was writing those figures. Was he fretting about how he had to stretch the money that had just come in until more hogs were ready to sell? Was there going to be enough to pay the bills, buy coal for heating, have enough to buy the coming year's seed for planting? Did he have enough to keep food in the bellies and clothes on the backs of his two growing boys? No doubt, he and his wife were a frugal pair. They lived off the land as much as they could and they didn't waste anything. Still, money had to be a concern in the looming economic uncertainty...well, we can identify with that today with the condition of our nation's bank account. Not to mention the debt that is drowning individual households.

My husband's grandparents made it through the depression and into the next World War. Scary and uncertain times...man has always faced them. It is no different today. It seems like everywhere we look today we see chaos,crumbling and decaying societies and morals. It is enough to make you get out your notebook and attempt to write down everything you have control over ....or you hope to have control over. 

Though we may face times of tribulation - actually, Jesus promises us - we will have tribulation in this life - we know that HE has overcome the world! For the believer, that is very good news because no matter how uncertain life becomes, God's plan will not, cannot, be thwarted!

The pages of the old McClain notebook are worn and tattered - they will not last forever, but the Word of God will! Financial situations can change - trials and tribulations will and do come, but God never changes, He is your one constant ...you can bank on it.

No matter what is coming our way, no matter the financial turmoil or breakdown of the family unit - leading to a breakdown in society...God is still God. He will not change. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. He knows the situation of your checking account better than you do! He knows what's coming and isn't surprised by by any tribulation you face. When Grandpa and Grandma McClain were scribbling down their meager budget and frugal recipes, God was there...He knew the outcome. He knows where we are headed too - and He will be there...you can bank on it!