About this site

About this site

I don’t know about you, but as I read the headlines every day, I worry that things are going to hit the fan and that I won’t be prepared for whatever could happen. But at the same time, I know that all the worrying in the world won’t do me a bit of good if I don’t take common-sense steps to ensure that I’m acquiring what I need for my long-term well-being. Having said that, though, there comes a point at which we’ve done all we can do with the resources we have and the situation we’re in, and from that point forward, all we can do is trust God and ask for His wisdom as we proceed. I hope that this site will not only help you acquire skills and ideas to help you through these uncertain times, but also in some way point you to the One who promises that even in the midst of chaos, He will never leave you nor forsake you.

“But bad stuff just doesn’t happen to me…”

As I write this, it’s been about 18 hours since a massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck the Pacific coast in Chile. We’re less than two months out from the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti. And 4-1/2 years ago this weekend, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, leaving more than 1,800 dead in its aftermath.
Maybe you don’t live along an earthquake fault, near the ocean or in any other region where natural disasters tend to occur. But chances are good that you probably live near other people. And people are often the most unpredictable and most destructive force in this world. The aftermath of Katrina, the Haitian earthquake and myriad other disasters have been made so much worse by people doing stupid, destructive things. You might as well just head for the backwoods away from everyone, right? Well, getting away from everything and everyone isn’t an option right now for a lot of people, myself included. And And some of us, myself included, just don’t want to become hermits so focused on our own survival that we cut ourselves off from the rest of the world and hide in the Montana outback with our beans, bullets and Band-Aids. There’s something to be said about being a part of a larger community of like-minded people who can help you when your own resources are lacking, especially during challenging times.
And those challenging times will come. You might never go through an earthquake, hurricane, wildfire or other natural disaster. But you might lose your job, like about 10 percent of Americans at the moment. You might burn through your savings, lose your home to foreclosure and even find yourself on the street. It’s happening to a lot of people right now. But there are things you can do right now, “baby steps” you can take today, tomorrow, next week and next month to help you prepare for those emergencies. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, half of your approach to preparing for uncertain times is 90 percent mental. I hope this site will help you start thinking about what you can do now to be ready when those uncertainties hit.