Emergency Preparedness

I am a firm believer in emergency preparedness - whether it be storms, power outages, or civil unrest and inflation. I never used to be until I happened on a you tube video one day. I watched every video by this lady and went to her web site as well. I was hooked. My dad bought me a dehydrator and I love it. It's not one of those you just buy in the store. A GOOD dehydrator will have a fan on the back side of the unit. Most dehydrators in the store may or may not have a fan and if they do, they are in the bottom of the unit where only the bottom couple of trays get the benefit. Mine also has a temperature control and timer. My problem is having enough money to dehydrate as much food as I would like. In these very uncertain and precarious times that we are living in, I know how important it is to have as much stored up in a pantry as you can get for your family, and then even more to help out other members of your family who are not living with you. Not only do we need to dehydrate food, but also build a pantry which pretty much stores everything you use on a daily basis or during the year. This includes soaps, deodorant, garbage bags, toilet paper, etc. etc. And the list goes on and on and on. There are many good videos on you tube about emergency preparedness. There are also some very good blogs out there. The LDS-ers are famous for food storage and preparedness and have an excellent web site that can be accessed for information on how much to store in your pantry. I don't know about anyone else, but I really don't have much room for a lot of storage. So that does create a problem. I know most places recommend that you have enough for at least 3 - 6 months. Perhaps because if there is hyper-inflation, hopefully it won't last beyond the 6 months. Personally, I think it would be better to have a year's supply of everything. Most of us live from pay check to pay check so this is difficult to accomplish, but even if, whenever you go to the grocery store, you pick up a couple extras of this or that and put it in storage, eventually, that pantry will build up (as long as you don't use anything from it right away). The goal is to build a big enough pantry that you eat and use items from the pantry and whatever you use, you replace so that you don't run short of an item. I wish our grocery stores here where I live, would offer double coupons. That is a great way to save money. Unfortunately, my state doesn't have any stores that do. This week, I purchased 4 cases of bottled water to put into storage. Now, if my family would just stay out of it. I cleaned and rearranged my pantry this morning and it was quite pitiful in comparison to what it used to be. I am constantly trying to work on it, but there are 4 of us in the house (3 of which are adults) and things go pretty quickly. And, when one of you loses their job, it makes it even harder. Still, if I hadn't been working on my pantry, it would have been much more difficult. At least I have plenty of corn still canned!

Reflections

Continuing on with the book I am reading, "Amish Peace" has really given me time for reflection as I read. It is an excellent book and will really make you stop and think about things as you read about the Amish way of life and how they view life in general. As I was sitting in the car waiting for my granddaughter to get out of school, several thoughts crossed my mind in regard to the world we live in today. Take for instance, letter writing vs email. I don't know about anyone else, but my hand cramps when I have to write for any length of time. So email is definitely easier because my fingers flying across the keyboard can keep up a lot faster with my thoughts. However, the downside to email is that it is no longer personal. When we write or receive a letter, we know that someone had to sit down and TAKE THE TIME to compose their thoughts and write them down on paper. I loved seeing my grandmother's handwriting on a letter she had written to me. She is gone now and I wish I had saved all those letters and cherished them. I could have gone back and re-read them and been able to see her face and picture her sitting in her chair, lovingly writing her thoughts to me. But I was too young to realize the preciousness of those letters. How about texting on a cell phone? Texting is great if you want to send someone a quick note when you or they cannot take a phone call. The down side is that not only are far too many accidents happening that are claiming lives from people texting while they are driving, we are losing touch with our friends and family. We don't need to hear their voices anymore. We have text messaging! How sad that we have succumbed to being satisfied to read a bunch of letters on a phone instead of listening to a voice. One day, that person may no longer be with you and you will never get to hear them again. Take the time, to TALK - not text. TV/Movies - we feel like we need to be continually entertained. What happened to family time? It's no wonder that our youth are roaming the streets or the internet, searching for someone who will pay attention to them. No one talks to each other anymore. We are all too busy. We fill our lives with busyness. Families don't sit at the table and enjoy a meal together or each other's company. Evenings are filled with sports, activities, and work. Kids (if they are at home) are barracaded in their rooms away from their families, either on the computer, listening to IPODS, or playing video games. There is no interaction between family members. Parents are over-worked, worn down from trying to make a living just so they can keep buying the next new thing that comes on the market. Not only do we not have time for our families, but where is time for God? Like our families, He has been placed on the back burner of our lives until we NEED Him to show up to help us or provide something we need (and in some cases, want). No time to spend with our children and families or friends. No time to spend fellowshiping with the Lord. We have all these time saving gadgets in our homes and garages, yet we have no more time. In fact, we have less. And with all those gadgets, we have lost the REAL joy of doing some of our tasks by hand because we are in too big of a hurry to get the job done. We don't know how to relax and enjoy the moment, the task, our family, our friends, or our Lord. We are a needy generation.

Peace

I am currently reading a really good book - "Amish Peace". I have always had a fascination for the Amish. I think it's because I am envious of their simple life. They don't worry about what the world thinks. They don't worry about what kind of clothes they are going to wear or if they have the latest fashion. They don't worry about having to keep up with the Joneses in regard to their cars, their homes, their gadgets and toys, or their technology. Their faith is deep and abiding. I think if the truth were told, a good share of us want what they have only we are not willing to give up what we have to get it. In the book there is this notation: "Become Amish? If you admire our faith, strengthen yours. If you admire our sense of commitment, deepen yours. If you admire our community spirit, build your own. If you admire the simple life, cut back. If you admire deep character and enduring values, live them yourself." What a wonderful concept! However, it's easy to read, easy to imagine, but hard to put in practice. How many things in your house could you live without? Electricity? Gas or electric heat? Washer and dryers? Dishwashers? Electric refrigerators and gas or electric ranges? How about hair dryers, curling irons, flat screen tvs, radios, Ipods, computers, telephones, microwaves, electric mixers, coffee pots, toasters, electric fry pans, crockpots, vcrs and dvd players, cable or dish tv, sewing machines, airconditioning and/or fans....just to name a few! The list seems almost endless! Yet, the Amish live without all of these things - besides many others, such as cars, motorized farm equipment, motorcycles, and a host of others. Could you give up all of your gadgets and toys for the simple life of the Amish? Could you so easily turn the other cheek to someone who has hurt you? Could you readily forgive? We live a spoiled lifestyle. We want someone or something else to do the work for us. We don't want to give up anything and, in fact, continue to crave and covet more and more. With all of the so-called time-saving technology, have we really GAINED any more time? Are we happier? More content? More relaxed and stress-free? Are we appreciative of the things we have or are we just more selfish, thinking that we have a RIGHT to have all those things? America, and a few other countries as well, are inhabited with self-centered, spoiled, and selfish people. Once upon a time, when a couple got married, they literally had nothing to start their life together except for what the bride might have managed to collect in her hope chest. When I got married, we had an old sofa (given to us), a very tiny tv that was about 10 inches square (given to us), and an old coffee table (given to us). We didn't even have a bed. Today's couples think they need big fancy houses full of fancy furniture to start their married lives. They don't know how to scrape and save until they have the money to pay for something. I'm afraid my grandchildren are not going to know how to deal with these issues as they get older. Kids today seem to think the world owes them a living - along with a house and furniture and a nice car. For me, the older I get, the more I long to live a quiet, peaceable life, free of gadgets and gizmos - like the Amish. To have a deep and abiding faith in the Lord, and heart that freely loves and forgives.