In the scriptures, there’s a verse that talks about faith being dead without works, and there’s a saying that goes, “You pray as though everything depends on God, and then you get up and act as if everything depends on you.” Having faith, and then taking action to help make that faith brighter, is what we’ve tried to do as a family. 

We have two things that we do that I thought I could share with you. The first is that we have, what I like to call, our immunity enhancement bucket. It’s kind of falling apart at this point. We’ve used it for several years now. It holds vitamins and supplements that we use to help build our immune systems. 

We have felt in our family that the best things to put in our immune enhancement bucket are Vitamin C (which is awesome for cold and flu season and other viruses), Icelandic kelp (good for your digestion and thyroid issues–have you noticed there are a lot of thyroid issues right now?), and vitamin D (we have both the swallowing kind and then, of course, the chewables for those 15 year old kids who still can’t swallow a pill because, you know, that’s life). Then there’s two things that aren’t in our bucket that we also use each morning and those are cod liver oil (really good for heart and brain function, including anxiety and depression and learning disabilities–we have all of that going on in our family), and kefir (a probiotic that is also good for your digestion). 

I just get out a handful of tablespoons, and in the mornings, when my husband and the kids are reading scriptures, I seriously go around with a little spoon and pass out the oil and the kefir. Everyone gets their own spoon because they’re not so little anymore, and they started complaining about sharing a spoon. So, everybody gets their own spoon, and I just give them each their cod liver oil and kefir, and I put the spoon in the sink when I’m done and then I go on to the next kid. While they’re being spiritually nourished and strengthened, they’re also being physically strengthened, nourished and fortified. And that’s what we do to help strengthen our immune systems. 

After doing what we can to build our immune systems, we hold tight to our faith and let go of fear, because this is something that we have control over. The rest is up to God. 

The next thing I’d like to share is another practical tip. Since we have been wearing masks during this time of the pandemic, I started using, what I call, a mask bucket to help me clean them. It comes out during laundry time. We throw our masks in the bucket. We put in some OxiClean and some water and then we throw our masks in here and we let it sit throughout the day. Periodically, I’ll just put my hands in there and move things around, just like a washing machine would do. I know most of us aren’t used to hand washing anything, so this whole hand-washing-mask-thing is kind of new to a lot of this current generation. It’s really not that hard. It’s just soap, water and some movement. When the day is over we wring out each mask. We get the extra soap out and then we rinse it in the sink with some water. We straighten them and flatten them out, and then hang them over the side of the bucket so they dry in the shape that we want them to be in.

So there’s some practical tips for you, and some insight into what we do in our family. But aside from all that, the more important message that I have for you today is to find things that you have control, do the best you can, and leave the rest in God’s hands. During the trials of life, we can feel overwhelmed and we let the fear take over. But when we’re working under fear, it’s hard, and it’s stressful, and it’s not a good place to be. If, instead, we can latch onto our faith, and take a few action steps that we have control over, then we can protect ourselves from living in fear. We can let go of it. I encourage you to find ways that your family can take action, so you can pray to God and feel comfortable leaving the rest in His hands, knowing that you’re doing what you can to keep your family safe.