2008-09-17

When Reality Slaps You In The Face

Here’s a rare treat for you Foraging Prepper regular readers. “The Wife” is going to share her thoughts today.

Hello, I’m Rook’s wife, affectionately referred to as simply “The Wife”.

I’m going to start by saying that my husband has always been an “out of the box” kind of thinker. He has always gone against the grain of “normalcy”. I, on the other hand, have always tried to blend into the woodwork. However, that’s not an easy thing to do when you marry someone like Rook. He is a different kind of thinker, indeed. So when he speaks about a “new idea”, I usually just shrug my shoulders and half tune him out. This prepping business was no exception. However, shortly before he did his post with me canning, I started actually taking the blinders off and started listening to what the politicians and media were saying about the economy and our future in this country. I started taking notice of the banks and larger companies being sold to other companies or filing for bankruptcy. I started taking notice to the rising concerns about oil and environmental issues. And I started realizing that my husband may not be as crazy as I once thought.

There are many books in the Bible that instruct us on how to live. But there is one book in particular, the book of Revelation, which refers specifically to living in “end times” and watching for God’s wrath to cover this earth. It talks about being aware of what’s around us and not just believing in what we see or think we see. There are plenty of people who feel that Christians are crazy just like many people believe that those who are prepping are crazy. I was once one of those people who didn’t believe in God and I also didn’t believe that life as we know it could ever end. However, in light of recent news reports of large companies like AIG and Lehman Bros declaring bankruptcy and/or being sold to larger companies just to survive, one has to wonder about the state of life as we know it. What will things look like in 10 years? What kind of environment are our children going to grow up under? Did we have it so easy, then carelessly let it slip through our fingers? The answer is a resounding YES.

We have two children, both of which are very smart, funny, imaginative and loving. Parents always want better for their kids. In the near future, our kids will wind up having it much worse than we’ve ever imagined unless we start doing things differently now. People need to ignore the norms of society. We need to work to ensure an adequate future for our families no matter how crazy that may look to others!

We prepare for so many other things without a second thought, weddings, graduations, birthday parties, retirement, buying first homes, college, the list is endless. So why are we so willing to laugh off the idea of preparing for a future without modern conveniences at our fingertips or a collapsing economic structure that could leave us virtually paralyzed! We must start the process of growing and canning our own food, learning how to sew our own clothing, having a stock pile of various items on hand in case stores are no longer operating for whatever reason.
It is those very reasons listed, that I now support my husband’s efforts to prep because I can’t afford not to. Life as we have been so accustomed to is inevitably changing. No matter who is elected President this November, the world is changing. We can’t go back to a “simpler” time. We can only look toward the future. Do you want to go on living life with the blinders on and pretending that the Government is going to fix our problems and we’ll return to “normalcy” soon? Wake up and realize that certain systems are failing and something has got to change. There are some things even the Government can’t fix. The changes that occur in the future may not bring about the kind of change everyone is hoping for!

Is your family prepared for the worst of times? If it isn’t, you’d better start prepping now. You don’t have to go into debt and hide in a cave tomorrow. But every small step you take today can help your family comfortably live through a crisis that is inevitably on the horizon. As for Rook’s family, we will be in comfort with those we love, who choose to link arms with us and work together to make our children’s futures something they can look forward to instead of looking to in fear and trepidation.

Linking arms with Rook to dig that moat….
-The Wife

2 comments:

Mayberry said...

Well said Ma'am. Rook, yer a lucky dog! Y'all keep workin' on that moat....

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Rook or should posters call you “the wife”. I will call you Mrs. Rook because I cannot bring myself to refer to someone’s wife using that phrase.
Well anyway, I understand being prepared for hard times if they happen to drop upon us out of the blue.
You actually talk about 2 totally separate issues to be prepared for in you blog.
1. The fall of the economy and business as we know it today. That is a good point on one side and one side only. People who are worried about the banks failing and them losing their life savings can rest easy. I will not bother to go into detail, but just refer anyone interested to go to WWW.FDIC.Gov and you can read for yourself how your deposited funds are secure.
2. You refer to Revelations. Well the only thing you can do to prepare for that is to except Jesus Christ into your heart. All the canning, figuring out how you will live f the banks fail or the stores close and you will have to find a way to feed or cloth your family or what do you call it ‘Digging the Moat”. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but all the moat digging you can do will not protect you then.