Saturday Pantry Suggestions

The prudent see danger

and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going

and pay the penalty.

Proverbs 22:3 

Have you ever listened to a politician or watched a news event on TV and wondered what planet they were speaking from?

This happened to me a few days ago as I took an afternoon coffee break and tuned into Fox News (I should have watched Max and Ruby instead).

Most of the images were of the chaos and rampaging going on in the Middle East, in which our ambassador and three other Americans were killed.

However, in the lower right hand corner of the screen, it showed the Stock Market rising by 250 points as the Fed news conference was telling us they were printing more money (of course, they did not put it that way).

In the same news that day, there were discussions about our current president refusing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu because he "did not have time in his schedule" but making time to appear on a late night entertainment show while the Prime Minister is in the United States.

My first thoughts were that our nation had to have some kind of stupid pill slipped into our water supply.  But that would not account for those with well water... sigh.

Let's see...

The Middle East is imploding and the president won't meet with the Head of State with our one friend in the region...

The Stock Market is rising when it is obvious some event is on the horizon (as was speculated and later confirmed, these riots were planned for the anniversary of 9/11)...

And not to mention... the Market is rising because we are printing cash in such a way that (if it were not government sanctioned), the people doing it would be arrested for flooding the money supply.

My friends, I try to stay away from politics here because I know we have all different flavors of political opinions among us... but when I was looking at this, I felt I had to send out a warning.

When I saw on Facebook that a couple Preparedness Sites were talking about the very same events... I knew it wasn't just my own (as my husband puts it when he has a "feeling") liver shivers speaking.

What can we do?

Well, first and most obvious... don't get tired of praying even when we see such events. 

Get serious about stocking up however little you can do each week.  I know how you feel when you don't have enough cash for putting good food on the table and gas in the car as it is... but even if it is only a few dollars a week... buy a little extra.

Pray about your needs and God will supply.  The Word tells us we are not to "take thought for tomorrow", which... in context... reminds us we are not to worry.

I put one of my favorite verses at the top of this post.  When I've been challenged that the Bible tells us not to worry about tomorrow so we should not do any stocking up, I remember the above verse.  There are similar verses and then, of course, the whole story of Joseph in Egypt.

Do your best to trust and not fear.  You may be an Esther or a Joseph in this time... or at least one who can intercede and pray from their home.

What if I stock up and nothing happens?

We already know food prices have started to rise so if you have carefully stocked up... with what your family already uses... you can shop your pantry instead of the store and save money.

People remind me of Y2k and how "nothing happened" but I believe Y2k was a dress rehearsal for a later event... and so do other preparedness people.  For one thing, Y2k did not happen because the computers that would have been most affected were fixed (as I have heard, at the cost of billions of dollars).

What if we are warned... what if we get those "liver shivers"... and the situation cannot be fixed by bringing in old computer geeks as they did in Y2k?

I learned so much by stocking up at that time, for one thing we ended up using just about everything we stocked.  Those items we did not use were all food and materials we were not already using in our home.  Nothing was wasted, everything went to other people who could use them. 

What did I learn from Y2k?

• Stock what you eat and eat what you stock.
• Don't use another person's list, make your own from what you already purchase for your family.
• The better organized you keep your pantry, the easier it is to use what you have.
• Set up your pantry to make it easy to rotate... rotate... rotate*. 
• Date your canned goods and those without an "expired by" date.
• Remember most items are good far past the "expired by" date (except for items like those with baking powder, which have a shorter shelf life).
• Buying in bulk is not always cheaper for smaller families.  We gave away beans bought in bulk and used all those that came in smaller packages.
• Always try a new food before you buy more than one, even if it is on sale.
• Learning new skills and obtaining information can be as important as buying anything.
• Don't listen to just a few people speculate on what may happen, read widely.
• Do not depend on national news sources for all your info but discern what you read on the Internet (most of us have realized that already, right?).
• Do not go into debt to stock up or buy items for an emergency situation.
• Be careful not to cause fear among the family but at the same time... make any preparedness a family project if possible.

 and

Remember those who came before us lived a Pantry Lifestyle as part of their everyday existence.  Read books such as The Long Winter when the snow is flying and the winds are howling.  :)

God is in control, nothing surprises Him.  Spend time absorbing His Word.  Pray. 

Any other recommendations on the Pantry Lifestyle, stocking up, and even good books such as The Long Winter are welcome.  Your past comments have been wonderful and informative.

*Rotate - using the oldest items first, placing the newest in the back of your storage on a shelf.  If using a box or other covered items, write the date of the oldest item on a paper and tape it to the box or container so you will know what needs to be used first.

In this way, you should rarely have to throw away anything!