Prepping for ???

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Sam

Awesome Friend
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Joined
Jul 3, 2020
Messages
118
For over 40 years I have watched people "prepping" and I have wondered why? Saw one guy who was storing rice and beans for his families "survival" just in case. My wife and I have never been survivalist as just living in today's world is to survive. God wants us to live a good live and give's us the means to live it, so why worry?
Because of having cancer 4 years ago I learned what "survival" really is and it is not pleasant...something I would not wish on anyone. Our city water is tap filtered to make it better, in reserve I have the British Berkerfield. We grow all of our own produce to avoid contamination and hey, free food is free!
Instead of just "surviving" live instead as God the Creator intended. Holy Scripture teaches what happens to those of us who do and what happens to everyone else.
I am not trying to preach, just explain how we do it every minute of every day.
 
Your post should spark a lot of reaction. Before it does I just want to say it is refreshing to discuss another point of view. Most people, including myself look at it differently. I have to get ready for work right now so I don't have time to go into it right now, but I will be thinking all day how to articulate my point of view.
Good fair question!
 
We are not prepping per say. We are trying to be more self sufficient. We grow some of our own food and have animals. We live on a property that has its own natural water source. This allowed us to live off grid for several years to do property improvements and build a home. So I guess being self sufficient is prepping but it is more a way of life. We also have food and essentials stored. That just makes good sense to us.
 
Prepping became a fad when Y2K came along, and even more so with 2012. There was a trend, even a cottage industry, that marketed it as the "cool thing to do". For those of us that truly believe it, it is a life style. We didn't need a reason. Life gives you enough reasons. Why would you not prepare?

Life can go sideways in a heartbeat. If you are not prepared ahead of time you don't have a prayer. Welcome aboard, Sam. Your input will be much appreciated.
 
Everyone is going to have a different view of 'living how God intended.' Just ask Noah. Nobody can plan for every contingency. So, for that, I do rely on God to help me through, or to transition. His will....will be done. For the things I can control, I try and take the reins on that.

Just becasue a person preps, doesn't mean they are living in fear or worry. I live a wonderful and blessed full life. But, I also stock up on things I know I'm going to need (and even some stuff that maybe I won't) when the getting is good. I was sure glad that I did, when this whole Covid thing came along. My pantry was stocked, my freezers were stocked, my TP supply was stacked high, and I had cash reserves on hand. Taking time off was not a big deal and I didn't have to worry about staying home for a month. I lived in relative comfort, not fear.

It offers me and my family a sense of security. The money I invest in "preps", I consider to be my insurance premiums. At least I have something to show for my premiums at the end of the day. I always find myself digging into my pantry to find things I need for this or that. I'm always glad that I have those things on hand. It has paid off more times than I can count, for myself and my family.

Welcome to the forum Sam. I'm glad to hear you won your battle with cancer! Yeah!!!:lil guy:
 
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Glad you survived and your faith helps you .I pray ask fro forgiveness daily but not religious so to speak, but understand those who are.
i have heard that in the New Testament the word 'watch' is there a few dozen times. Mainly speaking of the soul I'm sure but I think the flesh is also important to maintain. Too many celebrations for it to not be important,IMO.

Either way glad to have another memebr here who foundation is in God or at least not radical.
 
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I believe prepping is what God has intended for our family to do. The head of the family is told to provide and take care of their family, and we are also instructed to love and help our neighbor. What is considered prepping today was considered normal 100 years ago.
 
I am Roman Catholic; born and raised. Still am. Raised my children Catholic. We were taught from as early as I can remember to be prepared to meet God every minute of our lives. You never know when your number will be called. If you prepare in that way why would it not carry over into the rest of your life?
 
What an interesting take on prepping! Living in fear? I have never thought of it like that, and have never thought I was living in fear. I was raised by grandparents who always had a freezer full of meat and a well stocked pantry, because they would literally have months of not being able to get to town due to weather and snow. Would you say they lived in fear?
 
God commanded store houses, His wise observations for us His followers. Many, including myself, have misinterpreted Holy Scripture. God commands us to store for future needs as what we need is not always there. In the 7th year let your fields rest...what does one do then?
Holy Scripture gives all the answers that we need to live a good life. God never said that it would be easy, it wasn't for Jesus. Everything we have in our stored supplies are things that we use on a daily basis, why do otherwise?
The other observation is how one looks at life. I don't have to do anything, I get to do things. My day use to consist of getting up, going to the bathroom, my easy chair in the living room and back to bed. Many days I had a pump that I wore connected to the port in my chest pumping in chemicals to kill the cancers in me. Now I get to do the dishes, laundry, sweeping, gardening and cooking. I get to do so much my day is filled to capacity and I am a lousy boss looking at what I "need" to do.
People don't realize that one's future is in one's past. Ecclesiastes IMHO tells all about life and this Holy Chapter is over 3,000 years old. To find out where one is going look to where one has been. If the road was rough then, why repeat it? It is not what one has to do in life just the opposite.
Sam
 
If your lifestyle keeps you prepared more power to you. Good stuff. "Prepping" is a term I use to describe those that don't live as self sufficiently as would be needed in a less than desirable situation. Without living self sufficiently some preparation is a good idea if you see times coming that will threaten your chosen lifestyle. Not everyone has the ability to live as self sufficiently as they feel they would like to. If you choose to just live the way you do because god intended you to more power to ya. If others don't live that way but prep then good that's one less person I have to take care of. I have yet to see a completely self sufficient farm. And I've seen a lot of them. Some come closer than others. No harm in a little insurance stuff if you feel the need.
 
I try to to get a few weeks of supplies ready for like a natural disaster but like you said Gods in control so if I'm ment to die I will with a bunch of food by me or with none. I also though don't want to test him by having nothing. Yeah though I don't like saying prepping since usually they are building bomb shelters to "survive" the end of the world.
My 2 cents
 
Fear is best defined as "False Evidence Appearing Real".
If you are prepared you have nothing to fear.
Do you put your seatbelt on because you are afraid of an accident? NO! you wear a seatbelt to prevent or limit injury in the event of an accident.
Do you pray because you are afraid of Hell? No! you pray because you love God.
Do you store food because you are afraid of running out? No, you store food so you don't have to fear going without.

Since fear only exists to be conquered we conquer the fear with preparation and love.
 
I think people who prep can make their "suffering" less in hard times, and that's why I think it's wise. I do not want to suffer or put my family through suffering any more than they have to. Alot of people became "pandemic preppers" this time around, especially after seeing the shelves emptied out and nothing much in their home to eat. I think prepping is a very personal decision that is up to an individual, and really do not care if people do not prepare. From a financial standpoint, prepping is very smart with these rising food and sundry prices. I was mixing more hand sanitizer today for our moving trip up coming, and needed aloe gel. It was $1 last March. Found some for $5 today. Food goes the same way. Am still enjoying the hamburger I bought last March...60 lbs for $2.49 a lb 80/20. Can't find it for that price now. I suspect we will be "holing up" again this fall and winter because of Covid, and the unrest the election will cause. I would never want to take a chance at the grocery store during bad times because it'd be putting me at risk, and therefore my family at risk. Rather have what I need at home already. I've discussed this with people I know till I'm blue in the face, and bottom line is, do what you want. Some believe the govt will take care of their day to day needs, and others believe that god will take care of their day to day needs, and others have no clue how to take care of themselves. It is important to me in our family that we stay alert, and watch for hard times coming, and prepare accordingly. Homesteading can be part of prepping, or not. So, I take it that you are not a prepper, Sam...are you a homesteader? Or do you just like to cook?
 
I think people who prep can make their "suffering" less in hard times, and that's why I think it's wise. I do not want to suffer or put my family through suffering any more than they have to. Alot of people became "pandemic preppers" this time around, especially after seeing the shelves emptied out and nothing much in their home to eat. I think prepping is a very personal decision that is up to an individual, and really do not care if people do not prepare. From a financial standpoint, prepping is very smart with these rising food and sundry prices. I was mixing more hand sanitizer today for our moving trip up coming, and needed aloe gel. It was $1 last March. Found some for $5 today. Food goes the same way. Am still enjoying the hamburger I bought last March...60 lbs for $2.49 a lb 80/20. Can't find it for that price now. I suspect we will be "holing up" again this fall and winter because of Covid, and the unrest the election will cause. I would never want to take a chance at the grocery store during bad times because it'd be putting me at risk, and therefore my family at risk. Rather have what I need at home already. I've discussed this with people I know till I'm blue in the face, and bottom line is, do what you want. Some believe the govt will take care of their day to day needs, and others believe that god will take care of their day to day needs, and others have no clue how to take care of themselves. It is important to me in our family that we stay alert, and watch for hard times coming, and prepare accordingly. Homesteading can be part of prepping, or not. So, I take it that you are not a prepper, Sam...are you a homesteader? Or do you just like to cook?

Depends on the term of "homesteader", yours or mine. I did not say what I did to offend anyone, but today that is not possible. To me being "a prepper" simply means to being prepared for something. I will tell you this; My home is paid for, both trucks as well. Have chickens and raise all of our produce as well as some fruit. 9375 watt generator dual fuel with adequate fuel for some time. I could go on and on but you get the picture.
I follow scripture that calls for store houses for the future as God commanded.
I want people to be prepared as much as possible for what they can do for themselves/family. I have training as a EMT with proper medical supplies stored. I also was trained as a LEO in another lifetime so I have that.
Government "might" be able to help some in the large cities for a short period of time. I live in the stix so who will help us? We have been thru a flood that made us leave our home and also deal with FEMA...no thank you on government assistance. "The needs of the many out weight the needs of the few." we have had to put up with. I survived cancer how does one prepare for this?
I am a survivor and "prepare" for life on a daily basis. Today in the greenhouse I took out several spent bush bean plants and replanted, harvested some potatoes as well. Every 60 day's I harvest and then replant for a continual harvest.
Homesteader? Maybe you have that answer I know how to survive and have. On this pandemic I refuse to wear any mask as I deem them inadequate. I have a dual cartridge N100 respirator to protect myself from getting sick. Anyone who has "survived" chemo therapy [myself twice] takes care to not get sick.
I hope I have answered yours and anyone else's questions. I want to help people as I was trained to do that, not cause problem's for anyone. I can leave if I am bothering anyone.
Sam
 
I believe prepping is what God has intended for our family to do. The head of the family is told to provide and take care of their family, and we are also instructed to love and help our neighbor. What is considered prepping today was considered normal 100 years ago.

Exactly what I think. Normal life of my grandparents is prepping today.
 
@Sam you are in a way prepping which by the way is being prepared or self reliant as in you are growing your own vegetables to feed your family amongst other things. Welcome to the forum from Australia too:welcome: .

I am glad you are cancer survivor and made it through the other side and are far healthier now.

So you not think that Joseph in the bible storing grain was a message to us to be prepared ? and there is many passages in the bible relating to preparedness and self reliance. Proverbs 31 is one that comes to mind that particularly relates to women and preparedness.

We are prepared in our household and my husband served for Australia in the military and his vehicle he was in got split in half from a Leopard tank from behind. He was ejected out the top turret and down a boulder tank road. When my husband is out of action which is quite often because we are prepared we "need not fear" or go shopping for a considerable time. We live in the stix too.

There is no fear here in our household nor do we stress about anything.

We also grow our own vegetables and fruit, have a huge water supply in rainwater tanks, cut our own firewood and cook from scratch.
 
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What I was trying to say and did poorly is this. People are seeing ad's for "survival" foods, MRE and so forth. Like the guy who stores mainly beans and rice with little else. People are going to be adding the "shock" of change of diet adding to all else that will be occurring in their life. If a negative situation occurs many here will be better suited to it then those who just "store" for it.
Our threat is from weather, mainly winter with the cold and SNOW. After being home bound for 18 months tied often to a pump I had to learn to do things differently. My mindset changed from "have to" to "get to" among other things.
I understand clearly what "survive" means to me and can only explain to other's.
I want the best for all, only you can decide what is best for you. My profession was dealing with mentally ill, chemically dependent people of all types. I have dealt with people from the psych wards to the jail cell's. Before I got sick I was part of our church's jail outreach program which I enjoyed. I can only offer advice, it is up to you to decide your solutions to your life issues. For many years I did a two hour group for ex-con's dealing with Assistance with Daily Living Skills to reintegrate them back into society and not go back to the pen.
Sam
 
@Sam I agree that many people are ill prepared in their knowledge of storing items for preparations and I would agree also that those people will not do well in a survival situation. The key is educating them so they are with people who want to know.

I am an ex nurse so have worked in psych wards as well and seen my fair share of mixed up people and we too believe in helping those who want to help themselves. We can only advise people and what they choose to do is up to their own "agency".
 
Everyone is going to have a different view of 'living how God intended.' Just ask Noah. Nobody can plan for every contingency. So, for that, I do rely on God to help me through, or to transition. His will....will be done. For the things I can control, I try and take the reins on that.
I wonder what doctor they will have on the news explaining the rapture and the disappearance of so many people? I won’t be here for it but it’s just a thought.

While the devil is preparing people for the Anti Christ, God is preparing people for the Rapture. I don’t know when the rapture will take place but I do believe it could be soon.

I also believe this is a time that God is giving us a chance to repent. We need to get the Gospel message out!!! Until the Good Lord calls me away from this world to go home, I want to make it clear that I believe in Jesus Christ as the True Lord and Savior.

I will continue to prep until I die or the Lord comes for me, because I don't know how bad things are going to get in these later days..

It got bad for Noah, before God said enough.
I love my family and want to keep the suffering to a minimum.

I know many will disagree with my beliefs, and that's ok.
We have always been able to agree to disagree.

Jim
 
Sam, I love your unique view of "I get to" instead of "I have to". Perspective is always a wonderful thing. I know there's people out in the world who would literally kill to have my life, so I try to appreciate what I have. I'm sure you probably live a more fruitful life now than before....am I right? I've taken care of patients who have seen the light, so to speak and once they leave the hosptial, they view life totally differently and live life to the fullest. On the flip side of that, I've also seen people who have gone thru the same experience and their new found perspective is short lived and they go back to where they were before. Your posts suggest to me that you are in that first group of people.

I think you'll like this forum. I bet you'll find more people on this forum that agree with you than not. Even those who disagree on some points can typically debate without attacking. I've learned a whole lot during peaceful exchanges here.

On the LTS foods and such.......yes, I have some. Not much though. I got spooked when it looked like HRC was going to be POTUS and there were tensions in NK. I thought we might very well be living our last days. However, I bought very few items and what I did buy, I could afford. I hope those items will never be opened by me. It is there only for security now as I see no reason to get rid of it. I'm sure it probably tastes like crap, but I hope never to have to find out.
 
Sam, I love your unique view of "I get to" instead of "I have to". Perspective is always a wonderful thing. I know there's people out in the world who would literally kill to have my life, so I try to appreciate what I have. I'm sure you probably live a more fruitful life now than before....am I right? I've taken care of patients who have seen the light, so to speak and once they leave the hosptial, they view life totally differently and live life to the fullest. On the flip side of that, I've also seen people who have gone thru the same experience and their new found perspective is short lived and they go back to where they were before. Your posts suggest to me that you are in that first group of people.

I think you'll like this forum. I bet you'll find more people on this forum that agree with you than not. Even those who disagree on some points can typically debate without attacking. I've learned a whole lot during peaceful exchanges here.

On the LTS foods and such.......yes, I have some. Not much though. I got spooked when it looked like HRC was going to be POTUS and there were tensions in NK. I thought we might very well be living our last days. However, I bought very few items and what I did buy, I could afford. I hope those items will never be opened by me. It is there only for security now as I see no reason to get rid of it. I'm sure it probably tastes like crap, but I hope never to have to find out.

Ditto .

My sentiments also.

Jim
 
I don't consider my self a prepper at all. I do believe in the bible, and I can think of several passages where God's people were instructed to be prepared. Joseph and Noah are but 2 examples, but very powerful examples. The bridemaids in Matthew is yet another one. I am far from a perfect example but I do try my best to live as I understand.
I am far from it, but I try to follow the example of my parents and grandparents when I was growing up. They had outside jobs, but they also farmed and raised most all their food, meat and produce. Grandparents grew up as subsitance farmers living meagerly. They always kept enough food put back to do them for 2 years. One year the current one they are living. The other for the following year incase of crop failure. Both families had 10 children so that took a fair amount of food. Seeing how things are getting today, I can't see how thats a bad thing to do. Job loss, illness, and other things can make buying food very hard to do, even if just for a short time.
I am thrilled you have beaten cancer Sam. I truly am. Watched both my Mamaws pass away from it. I think this is a fine topic to get folks opinions on. Lots of good folks on here that will speak their piece. Never hesitate to join in a discussion or start your own.
 
I'm a prepper (I guess) because life happens and if you don't prepare it happens to you.

I met a guy who was loading my TV and valuables into a mig-shift pack, when I asked him what (The F>>>) he was doing he pulled a knife and I started looking for the door..... I wasn't prepared. I have been without power for a week in Sub-zero weather, I wasn't prepared and I didn't like it (neither did my kids). I lost a job and spent a year eating top raman and popcorn, I wasn't prepared.

Now days, I have 3 ways to heat my house... I keep enough food around that I could make it to the next job if need be... Every year we have events happen, sickness, heavy storms, and general miss haps. After each one, we have a family council, we ask what happened and why? what worked? what didn't work? what can we do to make it better next time... Then we develop a plan and do it...

Right now we should all be asking what can I do to make things better for my family? Do we see things on the horizon that we need to develop a plan for? A prepper should not be looking for the end of the world, they should be trying to be ready for what the world has to throw at them. Preppers are looking to get through life's disruptions with minimal inconvience. Good preppers learn from their mistakes and and try to share that knowledge so others don't have to endure the same hardships.

Sorry, got preachy there,
Urban
 
Most SHTF situations are not global, national, regional or local. They're personal. Job loss, unexpected medical situation that takes you out of the equation for a while, unexpected expenses, and more bad news - if you can keep the roof over your head and food in your stomach, you're in reasonably good shape. And when you prepare for the "little" events, you'll find you've also taken care of a lot of the "big" events, too.

After a short while, it isn't so much prepping as it is a lifestyle change you get used to. Don't waste anything, don't spend unnecessarily, be as self-sufficient and self-reliant as you can. Seems simple enough, but I don't see a lot of people (outside this most excellent group!) who get that.
 

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