Let’s Get Prepared

It seems like every where I turn I keep hearing about being prepared for the inevitable. There are people who are focused on fear and selling whatever they can to take advantage of that fear. Every article talks about how bad everything is and how it’s going to happen tomorrow so we better buy what we need today. The scriptures tell us God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, of power, and of a sound mind.

Then there are those who have a better perspective on things. You can tell they are genuinely trying to give you the information you need without the doomsday timeline attached to it. Yes, they may sell products on their sites, but there focus is on the information. I hope to be like one of these people.

Being prepared for unforeseen incidents is only common sense. Thus, I am starting this new column “CS Preparedness” to help you prepare while keeping a sound mind.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Being prepared for coming disasters is not anything new. Throughout the Bible you will find examples of God telling his people to prepare for some calamity. The most famous passage on preparedness involves King Nebuchadnezzar and his dreams. No one in the kingdom could interpret them.

A young man named Joseph, who was an inmate and a child of Elohim, was brought forth to decipher them. There was going to be seven good years and seven lean years. King Nebuchadnezzar was told to gather twice as much food during the good years so he can feed the people during the bad years.

Joseph explained that both dreams spoke the same thing. King Nebuchadnezzar understood that when two things agree with each other that thing is considered established. As a result, he placed Joseph in charge of collecting the food. He didn’t ask when it was going to happen or how long they had before the good seven years began. He started immediately. He acted on what he believed to be the truth.

For seven years Joseph collected food. He didn’t get passive or lazy about his task. He worked hard. When things would finally get bad there were going to be a lot of mouths to feed. Not only those from King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, but from those far away also.

Elohim knew that when the famine happened people would go to Egypt for relief because Egypt seemed to be the place to go when times got hard. It was the lifeline for many people. Elohim knew that if Egypt had no food a large population would die out. When the seven lean years came King Nebuchadnezzar was able to feed his kingdom and those he loved. He was able to save God’s people in the process as well as prosper them.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change who he is. He has the same characteristics today as he had back then. He loved his creation and gave them insight into what was coming so they could prepare. It was not his desire that they perish.

Maybe you feel God has not spoken to you or anyone around you. I believe he has and you didn’t notice it. How may he have spoken to you? One way is through the news. Another way is through the internet. If you have spent any time watching the news or surfing the internet, you’ll realize that he’s not only spoken, but is speaking over and over again.

Food Inflation

Food prices have been going up steadily for the past several years. What you bought just one year ago for $100 buys you less now. Maybe you’ve realized you had to start forgoing some of your favorite snacks. I know I have noticed.

It’s not just at the grocery store. Restaurants have even increased their prices or reduced the amount of food they give you. I went to Subway to buy a Tuna Sub. It used to cost $5 for a 12 inch sub. Now it cost $6 and in Tennessee it is $7.40. I almost fell out when the cashier told me the price. I guess I should be grateful for the $6.

More and more people are turning to coupons and looking for sales. When they find what they like on sale they buy a few more packages than they normally do. Many people are going back to the basics when it comes to cooking meals.

A Google search for “depression cooking” yields over 42 million hits. A YouTube channel featuring meals from the depression era has over 36,000 subscribers and almost 4 million upload views. A lot of people are going through trials already. Hopefully, you won’t be one of them. If we do see a relief in 2012 for food prices, then that will be good for us because we can buy more food to store up.

Do you want to know more about the rising cost of food? Take a look at these resources. I know the first two articles seem like a contradiction, but you have to read them because the first title is misleading.

• Rising food prices to remain steady in 2012
• Food prices will continue to rise in 2012, says USDA
• Food prices expected to keep rising in 2012

Natural Disasters

As if the rising cost of food prices weren’t enough, there have been more natural disasters in the last year then there has been in the past ten years. To watch people post to Facebook pictures of areas near them or read about how one of these disasters is affecting them were sobering. To look at people’s houses halfway under water or see crushed houses where homes used to stand was disheartening.

“On April 27, more than 300 tornadoes — four of those reaching the highest level on the tornado severity scale — ripped through the Southeast, leveling whole towns and killing 321 people. The unprecedented tornado outbreak was quickly followed a month later, on May 22 by another level five tornado in Joplin, Missouri that wiped out the town and killed 158 people. Add to that a devastating winter blizzard in the Midwest, Hurricane Irene on the East Coast and a massive drought across the South, and 2011 becomes one of the worst years for natural disaster in United States history.” (Top 5 worst natural disasters of 2011)

These are the Top 5 worst natural disasters of 2011:

1. Earthquake in Japan
2. Drought in East Africa
3. Floods in Thailand
4. Typhoon in the Philippines
5. Storms in the United States

Here are other articles about how bad natural disasters were in 2011.

• U.S. Natural Disasters: 2011 An Extreme And Exhausting Year
• Natural disasters and extreme weather
• A look back at summer 2011′s weather extremes and disasters

Economic Disasters

Maybe you were the lucky one who didn’t go through a natural disaster last year. Perhaps, the rising food cost didn’t affect you. That is great. Maybe you could help someone else who did go through those disasters because many people lost their jobs, causing them to lose their homes, to lose their cars, and to not be able to feed themselves.

For some, unemployment ran out. For others, sickness got a stronghold because there was no health insurance available. Yet, for still others, living on the verge of being destitute is becoming too much to bear. No matter how it looks now, one resource believes the economy will get worst.

“The U.S. economy was once the greatest economic machine in modern world history. But sadly, prosperity is not guaranteed for any nation.  Over the past several decades, some very alarming long-term economic trends have developed that are absolutely destroying the economy.  If dramatic changes are not made soon, a complete and total economic collapse will be unavoidable.” (50 Things Every American Should Know About the Collapse of the Economy)

For more information about the outlook of our economy, read the articles below.

• Warning Signs that We Should Prepare for the Worst
• Economic Collapse: Unemployment
• World Bank Projects Global Slowdown, with Developing Countries Impacted

How prepared are you if any of these disasters happened to you? How will you and your family survive? What plans do you have in place to survive these misfortunes?

End of the World Preparation

I know a lot of people are preparing for the end of the world. I’m not advocating this because if the truth be told, the end of the world is just that – the end. No amount of preparedness will help you. You’ll just die like everyone else. So if that is what you are thinking about preparing for, stop right now and buy your supplies to give to someone who needs them.

Could a zombie apocalypse happen like most people think? Sure, anything’s possible. If you prepare for the scenarios listed below then you could probably live through a zombie apocalypse.

Preparedness Focus

My focus is on real situations that are most likely to happen – power outage, earthquakes, tornados, sickness, lost of income, or a host of other realistic things, not an asteroid destroying the earth or an outbreak of zombies.

This series will focus on preparing you and your family to make it through whatever set back you come across. Hope you will join me on this journey of preparation.