BE PREPARED

Last night at our family potluck, we packed (or repacked) our 72-hour kits. These are small backpacks filled with warm clothes, food and water, and emergency supplies such as radio, flashlight, thermal blankets (those little silver foil things), first aid and sanitary supplies, rope, whistles, and of course, a deck of cards and hard candy. We hope we never have to use them. But if we ever need to evacuate quickly, we will be prepared to survive for three days. If we have time and the roads are passable, we'll toss all our camping gear in the car and be even more comfortable.

I don't worry about disasters. I don't sit around stewing about dooms-day scenarios or end-of-the-world "judgments." And I think it's because we're prepared. Not fully, but enough to be at peace. As the scriptures say, "if you are prepared, you shall not fear." And that's true.

The conditions and circumstances of our world can change in a moment. Think September 11th. Or December 7th. Or the Chicago Fire. Or the San Francisco earthquake. The Galveston Hurricane or Katrina. Think downsizing, banks closing, jobs lost. Natural disasters, stock market crashes, and acts of war are generally not announced before they happen. And though we in the United States have been lulled into a perhaps false sense of security by our long years of peace in our own land, things can change so fast we'll have no time to prepare. So the time to prepare is now.

Like Egypt in the days of Joseph, we may very well be in the last years of plenty before the years of famine or war or depression hit hard. It's just good sense to get ready: store some extra food, stash some cash, stay healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

My son and his family are living on the food they've stored while they wait for employment. This could be you. It could be me. There's no sense worrying about it. Just make a plan and get going. There is peace is being prepared.