Our Continuing Disaster Preparations/I Wanna be a Prepper/Homeschooling High School Credit
The title of this blog entry is long but accurate. My high school students studied disaster preparations this summer. Someone told me about the CERT program. After signing up for it here in Harris County, we discovered that our Texas school system offered a disaster preparation school credit based on the CERT program. Now, I don't really care what the Texas school system does because we homeschool, but colleges put more weight on these sorts of programs. So, off we went. We have been to the first class which our instructor dubbed "death by PowerPoint". She made it pleasant with her witty comments and the time passed quickly. Our class was filled with mostly teenagers with a few adults sprinkled in. Most of us were homeschoolers from our local homeschool group. It's gonna be fun! This week we are learning how to put out small fires. The two weeks following this are medical in nature. My youngest is interested in the medical field, so this will give him a taste of it all. He's pumped!
Now, the disaster preparation book I recently read said something to the effect of don't tell anyone you are doing disaster preparation or everyone and their second cousin will show up at your house at the smallest hint of a disaster. My heart is to help others in their time of need. I am doing my best to accommodate the influx of those who might seek help during times of crisis. I got a taste of this after Hurricane Katrina when our church cared for many displaced families from New Orleans. The Mormons are prepared to help others during times of disaster. Why aren't Christians? Ouch, that stung a bit.
One of the things that our CERT class emphasized was that most people are not prepared to take care of their own family during a disaster. We cannot depend on over-burdened government agencies or churches to help us during these times. That said, would you do me a favor? I promise, it is simple. Every time you go to the grocery store, pick one non-perishable or health item in your grocery cart and stock up a 3 month supply of it. If your budget won't allow this, just grab one extra. That's it.
So your stock doesn't go bad, shop from your stock-up supplies first and replace it on your next shopping trip. I keep a list of the stock-up items it my pantry so I know what I have. My pantry is small, so I'm storing the stock-up items in easily-accessible plastic tubs in our closets. The tubs are numbered and this number is referenced in my stock-up list for quick access.
Be wise and take some simple steps today to protect your family. Preparation is not panic. I want to scream when people insinuate that preparation is akin to not trusting God. Seriously? We trust God to protect us, but he gives us wisdom to make preparation. I think about when God gave Joseph an interpretation to Pharaoh's dream to prepare for the upcoming famine. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of gathering up food. Joseph's obedience saved all of Egypt and Egypt had enough to share with other countries. I wonder if others looked at this massive preparation and thought it panic and foolishness. Probably. They were the first people in line to buy grain when their pantry was empty.
Now, the disaster preparation book I recently read said something to the effect of don't tell anyone you are doing disaster preparation or everyone and their second cousin will show up at your house at the smallest hint of a disaster. My heart is to help others in their time of need. I am doing my best to accommodate the influx of those who might seek help during times of crisis. I got a taste of this after Hurricane Katrina when our church cared for many displaced families from New Orleans. The Mormons are prepared to help others during times of disaster. Why aren't Christians? Ouch, that stung a bit.
One of the things that our CERT class emphasized was that most people are not prepared to take care of their own family during a disaster. We cannot depend on over-burdened government agencies or churches to help us during these times. That said, would you do me a favor? I promise, it is simple. Every time you go to the grocery store, pick one non-perishable or health item in your grocery cart and stock up a 3 month supply of it. If your budget won't allow this, just grab one extra. That's it.
So your stock doesn't go bad, shop from your stock-up supplies first and replace it on your next shopping trip. I keep a list of the stock-up items it my pantry so I know what I have. My pantry is small, so I'm storing the stock-up items in easily-accessible plastic tubs in our closets. The tubs are numbered and this number is referenced in my stock-up list for quick access.
Be wise and take some simple steps today to protect your family. Preparation is not panic. I want to scream when people insinuate that preparation is akin to not trusting God. Seriously? We trust God to protect us, but he gives us wisdom to make preparation. I think about when God gave Joseph an interpretation to Pharaoh's dream to prepare for the upcoming famine. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of gathering up food. Joseph's obedience saved all of Egypt and Egypt had enough to share with other countries. I wonder if others looked at this massive preparation and thought it panic and foolishness. Probably. They were the first people in line to buy grain when their pantry was empty.
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