MY LITTLE BLACK NOTEBOOK

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25).

My way of thinking about emergency preparedness suggests looking at the cost, and the benefit. The cost is probably fixed whether or not the disaster happens; think about how likely it is that the benefits will happen. There might be several different potential benefits, with different odds. Calculate it out and see what makes sense for you. For instance, spending thousands of dollars and months of training to build a nuclear bomb shelter and learn combat techniques for fighting glow-in-the-dark zombies, is not a wise use of time and resources. I suggest weighing priorities. You could lose a meaningful part of your life through seeking so desperately to save it (and to save it from disasters that may well never happen).

General lists of things to have are widely available; read them but don't rely on them without taking time to customize them for you. If you have any medical training at all, the usual "first aid kit" will seem pathetic and almost useless. If you know how to navigate, having the usual compass but not the local area topographical maps seems pretty silly. If you are handy, the usual "wrench and screwdriver" recommendation for tools seems kind of lame. Think, and make your own choices and lists.

I got a small notebook and for a couple days listed everything I used. I was amazed that I am such a creature of habit!  I really do the same things daily, use the same products frequently and don't stray to much from my 'normal'. I went over the list and saw what I wanted and needed to add or cross off. I discovered what I would miss most. This was truly an excellent lesson in appreciation. For, truly, I have so much!,  though in the eyes of the world I have nothing!

My simplest finding was water! Water, water, water! Anyone who truly knows me, knows how I feel about drinking the “recycled-poop-water” that we call city water! Over-chlorinated water that was once our toilet/bath water, or a near busted drug dealers final flushing ground,  or our disease filled hospital waste water flushed into our city water systems, then recycled back to our homes?!?!?!?! NOT FOR ME! Can you say “carcinogens on tap!” (ok, off my soap box now).....anyway........I have to have a way to tap into my well without electricity! So I contacted my friend Howie! In my next post, I'll share how to get water from the well without electricity!

My other realizations were simpler: communications........... (more on this in another post too!, I have soooo much to share!) wipes!, nothing beats cleanliness and you always feel better when you are clean! Cleanliess is next to Godliness, oh the truth in that! Cold medicines man, life can be miserable with a cold/flu, and without some remedy, life can be unbearable. Diet Coke! that's a need for sure!, I want to give it up, but I need it! Life without it would be tragic! This is a work in progress. Prayer! All day, every day! Who can make it through anything without the Lord right there, the whole way through!

These were my discoveries, things in my notebook that I did not have enough of, or couldn't ever do without! There's always room for improvements, but this was a great way to discover what I have, what I need, what I use!

I use my new list for making preparedness purchases.  I'm concentrating on 'what we need', because we don't always need what is recommended.  I intend in the next week or so, to do a more in depth study (list) of our needs as a family, not just on what I used for a couple days.  I will be listing everything we use for a week!  This will prove interesting, given the various personalities in my home!

For some things the cost of not preparing could be very high. If you need a particular medication, be sure you refill it ahead of time. One way is to always have the current bottle and the "next" one. As soon as you start the "next" one, immediately get the one after that. This way you won't have a problem if for any reason you can't get a refill at just exactly the right time. It may also be wise to divide your supply between 2 places: don't keep the whole bottle with you, lest you lose it all with one spill, misplaced or stolen purse, etc.

Realizing the realm of preparedness is HUGE, taking the time to customize your preparations could mean you are better preparing rather than needlessly preparing!