Being Prepared

What is being prepared? How do you start?

This is something that over the last 5 years since I moved out of the city I have had to learn. 

The first couple of months were the hardest with all the unpacking and working on getting stuff ready for a real winter (desert born and raised) so many nights we had PB&J for dinner because I wasn't prepared.

In February of 2010 my oldest child broke her arm. All the kids were off playing in her room and I heard a cry that wasn't normal so I ran over there and knew instantly we had to go to the hospital, my problem.... NO CAR!! Our car had recently died on us and my husband works over 3hrs away and wasn't due home til dinner.

New Years Eve 2010 my water pipes froze, a week later they actually burst, and somewhere in between the lines buried underground froze also. I had no running water in my house till September of 2011 and we still don't have it pressurized as of now.

Again I was caught unprepared. 

I have been going thru all my house trying to find ways to better be prepared and I really can't figure it all out. There are way to many scenarios  that run thru my head and I haven't the foggiest idea how to plan for it all.

My conclusion.....

Plan for what you can and trust in God to care for the rest!!

Physically I can plan for:

• Food--

We grow gardens during the summer so we try to can up and dehydrate enough food to get us thru the winter. 

We plan our meals monthly and do most of our shopping once a month purchasing as much as we need plus restocking anything that we use regularly.

• Medical--

We try to keep a well stocked medicine chest and a working first aid kit (I don't know how many times we needed band-aids but can't find them because the little ones decided they made great artwork).

Thanks to friend and family (and my clumsiness) we have 3 sets of crutches in a closet, a kids set, standard adult and a large adult.

I am learning how to use herbs, no I am not going totally herbal but knowing that fresh ginger tea with help with sinus congestion or that rubbing fresh basil leaves on your skin will keep mosquitoes away is a good thing!!! (Yes the basil does work!!!)

• Weather

We make sure my husband chops enough wood for  a couple weeks at a time just in case he can't make it home due to storms which has happened more times then I like remember.

If a storm is coming we run our well and check our power system (off-grid living) and make sure I have fuel for the generators if needed.

In our area we have to be prepared for early freezes or we loose our gardens. Sometimes we get caught off guard others we go out and harvest what we can and spend the next few days canning it all.

• Material items--

Keeping the cars in good condition is one we are working on, both my husband and I have been stranded by broken down cars since moving rural.

 I try to keep a variety of clothes in the closets for the kids, you never know when they will grow an inch or two.

I buy on sale, if my favorite shampoo/toothpaste/toilet paper is on sale I buy as much as my budget will let. It saves money in the next few months and it nice to have it ready when needed.

We keep a shovel in the back of the truck, twice this summer we had lightening strikes start fires and living rural we can't rely on a fire department.

I look back on my life a few years ago and I never thought of things like this. 

I mean if a car broke down we walked or took the city bus. 

Shopping was simple I lived right across from a Fry's and went at least twice a week.

Fire department was only 10 minutes away. 

Keeping extra fuel, ha ha ha we were lucky if we filled the cars on time.

As times are getting harder I am trying to prepare more, what would happen if my husband lost his job, would we be ready? Would we be able to put up enough food? 

Probably not but I am getting there, my biggest set back is when life happens I try to jump in and try to fix it like the human that I am.

I have come to realize that being prepared is more then just all of this, its relying on God more then 100%  of the way. He is the only one that is truly able to prepare us for what is coming ahead.

I know that thru him all things are possible. Thru him I will be prepared!

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. 

 

Sweet Dreams,

Cris 

Link Up

I am very new to the blogging world but one blog I love to death and read daily (I have it emailed to me so I can read it on my phone while cooking breakfast) is Women Living Well and she does a Link Up post so I am going to attempt it and see if it brings you lovely people my way. If you found me from over there please leave me a comment so I can know. Also if you think I can do something better feel free to tell me I am willing to take suggestions.

God Bless and Have a great night!!

Cris

Craving Springtime!!!!

I know tomorrow is February 1st but I can not help myself.

I WANT SPRING!!!

I want warm weather, open windows, and working outside in the gardens a little bit everyday. 

I am so done with cold dreary weather with bleak cloud filled skies. Being stuck in the house drives me stir crazy. This year has not been our coldest but it has by far been the stormy/cloudiest. This is the first time my poor dirt roads have been dry all winter because of all the snow we have been getting. For anyone that does not understand--- muddy roads is not good when you have small kids wanting to ride bikes or play soccer or even make it from the truck to the house without slipping on to their butts in the mud.

I sit here at 3pm and I have a roaring fire going and layers of clothes on but still I am chilly but not because its cold inside, I mean its 70 degrees inside and 57 outside but with a strong breeze that is blowing and no sun to be found it makes it feel colder.

I think another reason I am craving spring is because we just went out last weekend and started cleaning our smallest garden plot which after this year will become the long term orchard of grapes, asparagus, strawberries and other berries. 

We already planted 5 grape vines last spring and they did really well so hopefully this year we can get another 5 (or maybe 10......15 who knows). We have a row of asparagus in there from last year and hope to get one more planted, plus I just ordered 100 strawberry plants. Yes that seems like alot but I got 5 different varieties and some probably will not make it. Not to mention during the summer we can go thru strawberry smoothies like crazy.

The random berries will happen as we find them, if we have the chance we will do it this year but probably not till spring next year.

I will be starting seeds in the house within the next 4 weeks. I have some of the seeds I want to start already but ordered the rest today and its making me antsy.

I succeeded in  tiny broccoli last year so hoping that I can grow it bigger or just a tons more tiny heads this year.

My morning eggs are needing some mustard greens. 

My stir fry for dinner needs fresh bell peppers and squash.

We only have a few more jars of spaghetti sauce left that I stashed for saving since it was so good.

Basically I am ready for my garden and my fresh food. 

This sense of longing for it comes earlier and earlier each year.

This year will be a bit easier since we are not doing our local farmers market. We decided it would be better to take time off and finish random projects around the property then to work ourselves weary and not make any money.

Once the weather gets quite warmer we will be starting on breaking ground for my greenhouse that will be attached to my house. We will be finishing the rabbit/drying shed/ hay barn/ workout room (it has been used for all of the above) since its still missing some doors and a roof cap. We are also planning on painting my house, 5 years of little kids on flat paint is not a good thing. For painting I need to be able to have the doors and windows open and fresh air flowing. I do not need to encourage my kids craziness by filling them with paint fumes.

There are things about my spring I am not ready for but will deal with, ha ha kinda have to. 

Most importantly the wind. We have killer winds, I mean 40-50 miles per hour steady and gusts in the 70's. In April of 2010 our wind killed a greenhouse we tried building. (Note to anyone reading DO NOT try the Harbor Freight kit greenhouse if you have any high winds!!!)

I am also not looking forward to snakes. Thankfully I have never found one when I was alone and my older children know what to look for but I still do not like them. They hide from us in between plants and that scares me to death. 

As I finish this today the sun is starting to peek out of the clouds. Maybe tomorrow will be a better, warmer day that will allow us to work outside a bit before my husband comes home for the weekend.

Hoping everyone out there a great day and hope if you have nice weather your enjoying it extra for me.

God Bless,

Cris

Diving In

As I start this blog I want to start it right. I am going to share tons of random things here, from meal ideas/recipes, to homeschool lessons but most importantly I want to share Gods word. 

I am not a pastor or a pastors wife,  I am a mother of four children and a believer in Christ!

I have read thru the bible about 3 times in my life, mostly in my early teens and while I do remember some I can not quote any of it word for word. I can generally remember a verse but then need the internet to tell me where it is located in the bible and the exact wording.

I long to be a good wife/mother/friend ,one where they can see God in me and my house, one that my girls can look back on and be inspired by and one that shows my boys what they can and should look for in their future wife.

To help me show them I decided to start doing a study that was shared on a blog I found, its free and very basic to get you started in the word even though its titled for Moms I plan on reading aloud with my children --

31 Day Bible Plan for Moms

I am thoroughly in love with Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling as a homeschooling mom that is struggling in the spirit and in teaching her children. I  am inspired by how she trusts God completely, with all aspects of her life. I trust in him but I am not diligent in it, I tend to stumble a lot along the way. I try to take the lead instead of leaning on him.

I am starting  Day One today, I will probably do this plan many times throughout the year in addition to other studies I am doing. Please join me as I dive into his word.

This month's prayer is that God opens my heart, and mind as I start this. That through his word I can become a better wife, mother/teacher and friend.

God Bless,

Cris