Preparedness

Your last action item was:
Determine what impending event you are preparing for.

How did you do? Did you determine what it was or what they are if there is more than one? Hopefully you have determined what you are going to prep for and even got the jump on one of my future posts on "Starting to prepare".

Benjamin Franklin said it and @Preppershow tweeted it this afternoon: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Proverbs 29:18 states it this way: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law." (NKJV and the KJV uses the word vision in place of revelation.)


You may be saying, "what does this have to do with preparing?"


Well, in mine and several other people's mindset the answer is simple. A LOT or EVERYTHING. We have to prepare! If we decide to take the biblical aspect (no I am not preaching but merely covering all the angles to look at this), then you may retort, "God will take care of all of my needs." And you would be correct. God will and does take of all of our needs. We will have food when we need it. We will have water when we need it, etc. However, you have to buy food or prepare the ground before harvesting a crop. 

Throughout the Bible and history, man has been told to prepare.


God told Noah before the flood came. God told Moses before they entered the promised land. God told Joshua and the rest to prepare. Oh, New Testament? Jesus was in the desert preparing for His ministry. He prepared the disciples. Paul prepared before he left on any trip. Jesus is preparing His bride before his return. And again, the list goes on.


In modern history, men and women are prepared before they go to war. They are trained, as are anyone else that goes into a certain profession. Before the holidays, we prepare ourselves for whatever it is, Thanksgiving, Black Friday for some, Christmas, etc. We prepare ourselves for a new year and even do "spring cleaning" in preparation for the season. We prepare the ground for crops. So we prepare in all phases of our lives in everyday living. We are naturally preparers.


Maybe the things that we prepare for are not impending doom or life threatening, at the moment, but some may actually be. If you are a farmer, when you prepare the ground, are you prepared for a snake bite? Herdsman, are you prepared for a wolf attack? Here is a more appropriate one for this time of year, winter. 


I was challenged by one of Jack Spirko's recent podcasts about preparing for winter. I realized, I was not prepared! I am not ready if the power goes out and there is no heat. I am not prepared for the ice storms we get every February. I am not prepared for the rains and power outages we get in early December and mid-January. I am not prepared if we have to make a quick trip to the Emergency Room if someone burns themselves while cooking a huge feast.


Do you have enough blankets, candles, an alternate heat source, or enough fuel for emergencies? I unfortunately had to say, no. I have since started preparing for winter as well as some of the events listed below. But you may ask, "Okay. I got it. But what impending events are there? What COULD actually happen?" Glad you asked. I have compiled a small, not complete by any means, list:

•     Weather related
     o    ice storms
     o    power outages
     o    tornado
     o    hurricane
     o    tsunami
•     - EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) blast (very controversial but worth mentioning)
•     - Governmental meltdown
•     - Financial Collapse (hyperinflation, deflation)
•     - Terrorism (invasion)
•     - Martial Law
•     - War (nuclear, biological, chemical, WWIII)


And I'm sure you can add to the list.


Now, I know there are some possibilities that are just wacky and I won't go into them Even those listed above are sometimes controversial. Keep that in mind if you are preparing for them and your family starts questioning your actions.


The next step is to get your immediate family on-board or, at minimum, get them to understand why you are preparing. If you are single, is there someone you think needs to know this and can help you? Keep in mind, you should evangelize others that they should prepare as well. Joshua Robbs explains this all too well in one of his podcasts so I won't go into it.


Then start. Make a list (which will be a future blog subject). Start an inventory. Just do something to move forward toward being prepared. Will you ever be fully prepared? Probably not. Then what's the point? You want be at least halfway prepared when the need arises. In the example as I mentioned before regarding winter, I had blankets and lighting ready, but not alternate heat sources. I will move toward getting that source. This has taught me that I can always be BETTER prepared. So what's next?


Your action item for today:
Start your list and inform your family. What will you need? What will it take? Can you gather a little something at a time or will it require a huge investment? (For example, do you need a propane heater or a generator or will an extra blanket work for now?) What can be delegated to other family members?


Until then,

Use your Instincts to Survive!


A special thank you to SelfReliantinfo for his help with this blog