Photo by Andrey Metelev on Unsplash

I recently read a comment on a youtube video that said something to the effect of “All the people on that show preppers are now laughing at us instead of us at them.” and this comment is 100% correct. However, even in hard times like the current ones, I still think that we should not let fear run our lives. In the bible, we are able to see many instances where we’re told not to fear. One of them is Isaiah 43:1 “Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.” So how do we prepare for global catastrophes but at the same time not live in fear?

The key to life is moderation.

When my wife and I used to live in Florida, we would keep a decent amount of preparations in our home. We were not preppers living in fear as you see on TV. We were Floridians and we knew, ever year a hurricane would come through or come close and everything would disappear off the shelves. If you waited until a hurricane was on its way, it was often too late for you to get supplies. To deal with the very limited supply chains during an emergency we kept a generator, about a month’s worth of canned food other needed supplies like paper towels, toilet paper, bottled water, a shotgun, and some shells. Every American should try to get something like this to put on the side once this ends.

When we moved to Ohio, I gave our generator to my father. Power outages here are not common like they are in Florida during hurricane season. I also took a little survey from friends on what they did and quickly found that most of them had little to nothing prepared and so we figured we would probably do the same. We do keep a fair amount of food in our house because we typically shop in bulk at Costco. When toilet paper went off the shelves like crazy, we had half a block from Costco which is about 24 rolls? We had little to no canned food and basically nothing else we would want to survive for a month without visiting a store. We were able to get enough food eventually but we should have been somewhat prepared for this. Another thing is we were super lucky. We were not living on the edge of our budget, but we did not have any savings really. We got our tax return right as it was hitting and we we’re going to use that money on various things that we wanted. None of the economic shutdowns had started but there were rumors of coronavirus being an issue in the US. I decided I better hold off and I am glad I did. 

Moving towards becoming self-sufficient.

As things disappeared but before amazon stopped delivering my wife and I started ordering things to become more self-sufficient. We have been growing gardens for the last 3 or so years. With coronavirus hitting and food shelves becoming empty it was time to start our garden but we were still getting snow flurries. Something that I have been wanting to do for a while now is starting an indoor garden to start our outdoor stuff earlier and to allow us to grow leafy greens inside year-round. We spent $150 on our indoor garden and so far I’m happy. I started this garden last week and we are already starting to see some sprouts so, in my opinion, it has been worth it. There are certain things you can grow in indoor gardens that can provide you with the nutrients you need to survive. A lot of them can be grown quickly and cheaply. 

I also recently purchased a crossbow which in case of food shortage would allow me to hunt food sources. Crossbows are not perfect but it will allow me to get large animals without having to worry about buying ammo. I did not buy this for “prepping” to begin with but it does work in that way. Not only is hunting a good hobby that supports wildlife areas, but it also is a way to provide natural food for your family. Deer here in Ohio are in abundance. I live in town and last year we had one walking down the street and through people’s yards. 

A few other things we have done… We recently purchased a deep freezer which allows us to store large amounts of meat and other frozen foods. We have started buying more canned foods. I picked up about $120 worth the canned foods shortly after all of this started. If we were not able to have the power we could live off canned goods for about 2 weeks or so. We bought enough toilet paper to last about a month. (around 24-36 rolls). Since we don’t have a generator anymore and my son and I have been camping a bit I bought a propane heater that will help to keep us warm should power go out for a night or so. I also have been keeping a supply of wood for the fireplace (but I could use more).

Kids

This is a hard time for kids. A lot of them are not going to school or interacting with friends and that is really hard. I recommend trying to set up play dates with people you see often anyway. We meeting up with people at our church, my sons school (since hes back) and his boy scouts when possible. We have also been trying to spend more time with him and have introduced some new things. We have been playing more board games with the kids. This is great fun for everyone starting around age 3. We let them use tablets to do learning activities like ABC Mouse which is fun and learning. The last thing I did is I let my oldest start playing video games. We restrict what games he plays (no online gaming right now) and how long he is able to play a day (1-2 hours). We have also been trying to get outdoors more. It’s harder during the winter months but we have taken a walk into town to buy a few things here or there. Come spring we will move on to trying small portions of the ohio trail.

Things we plan on doing.

Since before covid19 we were planning on buying a house. We are still working towards that goal now. It’s not the best time to buy I guess but we do want to get away from renting and find some land where we are able to grown more food on our own. We have also been working on trying to downsize our house, getting rid of a lot of non-necessities and donating them to charity. Getting rid of things and cleaning out our basement will allow us to have more room for supplies like toilet paper and canned foods and water. Come spring I want to start storing up on some firewood for next winter. Not only can it heat the house if we loose power but we do like to light fires all winter in the fireplace. Its nice to sit around the fire and watch a movie or something. We want to get a generator after we buy a house. One big enough for heating and cooling systems. With that we would probably get some 50 gallon drums for fuel. Solar panels would be nice too. Our indoor garden actually did really well producing more than enough for us to eat of leafy greens. I would still like to expand on it at some point.

Hard Times

I think that there are likely many more hard times to come in the U.S. with all of the things that have happened this year. It is good to have dependable neighbors, friends, and family to help you along the way (and you them). Don’t depend on the government or any companies to do the right thing. We have seen both time after time turn from us. We need to make sure that we can survive without them. Make sure you stick tightly to your church and help out with people in need whenever possible. Everyone is hurting so if you have extra and the ability to help then do it. Most of all I think it’s important that we all pray. Pray that our country make it out of all this in one piece. Pray that your friends and family will be OK. Pray that the Lord heal us all.