Thank you so much for getting to this point…let’s wrap it up.

Personal Note : Why Am I a Prepper –

• I am a prepper because I want to be charitable. The scriptures tell us to be charitable, preppers (true preppers) are just that. In times of emergencies and disasters preppers can be the first ones to feed their own family, their extended family, neighbors, fellow congregation members, etc. And that can take place immediately, not the days and weeks it takes for government relief efforts to kick in.
• I am a prepper because it makes me feel secure. Whatever life throws at me I know I can at least feed, clothe, put/keep a roof over my family’s head, and provide them with clean/safe drinking water.
• I am prepper because I love to learn new things, especially useful skills. I can operate a Ham radio, I can build a solar system, and I can reload my own ammunition, grow my own food to name just a few skills.
• I am a prepper because I get to use all my cool gear and equipment when I go camping, hiking, or helping a neighbor. It is a whole lot of fun that I can share with family and friends.
• I am a prepper because I don’t trust the government to do a good job of taking care of me, my family, or anyone else. I mean, seriously, tell me something, anything, that the government does well. I don’t want to be depending on some government bureaucrat to be in control of my family’s safety, comfort, or future.
• I am a prepper because I don’t want to depend on the media or the government for my information. I want to be able to know what is going on myself, directly. I don’t need their bias and “slant” on what I learn. I can think critically because I am a prepper.
• I am a prepper because I want to be a contributor not a taker. I want to be an asset to my family, my friends, my congregation, my neighbors, and my community. I don’t want them to go hungry waiting on MREs to be pushed off the back of some National Guard truck. I want to be able to grab my tractor and grade a road or use my chainsaw to clear a tree from that road or a neighbor’s house.

Mostly though, I can’t tell you the single most powerful and underlying reason I am a prepper. It’s not because I don’t want to tell you, but it is simply because I can’t explain it to you. I actually can’t relate it to you because it “tastes like salt.” Yeah, try telling someone what salt tastes like. Unless you know what being prepared feels like, I can’t get that feeling across to you. I wish I could, I really wish I could.

But I can tell you this, I can feed my family, I can provide fresh clean water for them, I can house them, I can communicate with them, I can keep them warm, I can grow food for them, and I have the means to protect them if needed.

Can you imagine if more families could do that? How about if the vast majority of families in America could do that…free of any government intervention/interference? Free of government dependence. What would that mean for our communities and for our whole country to be independent of the government? Pretty sweet in my opinion if we could be more self-reliant.

In the first article of this series I listed a whole bunch of things you can do as a prepper to make a difference. Let me add tot hat list:

• Cut a neighbor’s grass for them.
• Change a tire for an elderly couple or mom with kids on the side of the road.
• Take a meal to a needy family.
• Take a not-so-close friend shooting for a morning.
• Join a Neighborhood Watch group.
• Form a Neighborhood Watch group.
• Take some garden vegetables to your neighbor.
• Weed a neighbor’s garden for them.
• Ask someone to go to church with you.
• Go to church every Sunday yourself…and listen to the Spirit while you are there.
• Live your religion.
• Invite a family that you know to come over for a lunch.
• Attend a class or seminar on the Constitution.
• Start a Constitution study group.

You want to make a difference? You want to know what you can do? Along with becoming prepared and self-reliant…serve. Serve others with small, medium, and large acts of kindness…provide tender mercies for them and their families. I have no idea what those acts can be…but you can figure it out. Eventually being properly “prepared” physically, mentally, and spiritually means being able to serve/help others.

Summary –

Prepare or not. Prepare in a haphazard wandering manner or in an organized and systematic manner. Prepare for the right things or stumble around in the dark. It is all up to you. I can’t make you learn. Hell, I can’t even motivate you to learn, let alone prepare. The motivation must be yours and the “action” part is entirely up to you. All I can do is present information, my knowledge, and my experience to you. What you do with it…or not…is completely your decision to make.

Yeah that sounds a little bit like tough love…so be it. I’ve been at this a very long time and seen all sorts of people come and go in the prepper world. Some well intentioned, some only motivated by profit, a couple actually informants for the government. But the absolute worst of the lot…people representing themselves as ‘experts’ and giving out info that is worthless…or information that could get you injured or killed.

I still remember maybe 10 or 15 years ago a dimwit stating that the absolute best survival clothing was cotton jogging pants and sweatshirts, with tennis shoes. She swore that would meet every single requirement of emergency preparedness in all weather conditions. DIMWIT!!!!

I believe it was also the same ‘expert’ that said a bugout bag needed to only provide you with 72-hours of supplies. Okay, so I ask…what do you do after 72-hours? Another ‘expert’ preached only needing 1 years supply of beans, oats, wheat, and rice for food storage. Well, that person has no clue about nutrition, calorie usage/needs, or food fatigue…or even reality if truth be told.

Enough of that…you get my point…use qualified experts for your information and to learn skills. Others can easily turn you and your family into casualties.

If you have any desire to prepare, to become more self-reliant, and wish to do so with a high potential for success, then consider the information I have shared with you. See if it applies and if so, how it applies.

Here is a great tidbit of help…check lists. Yup, some time back I developed a series of check lists that coincide with each of the “7” to very accurately let you know where you are in being prepared. I would highly recommend you download each check list and use it.

Let me close with this…you can get prepared…you can become more self-reliant. Yup, you surely can…I promise you that. It will take time, effort, learning, and money to do so…but it is a realistic expectation to get there. Here is my last bit of wisdom in this prepper journey…it’s more a lifestyle not a hobby.

I’ve been prepping for decades…and TEOTWAWKI has not happened, nor has a wildfire swept through my community threatening my home, nor has an earthquake hit our region. I’ve never had to draw my weapon to defend myself or others…once it came close. I can tell you this…I’ve used my medical kit(s) and training a fair amount. And our water storage was used multiple times when the main water supply was interrupted. But the big grid-down event hasn’t happened to us…and maybe never will.

Have all our efforts been in vain? Nope! Because there is a great sense of security that comes with knowing you can handle an incident in a pretty self-reliant way. And yeah, even stretch out that reliance in a way to help others.

And while the ‘big event’ hasn’t happened…it doesn’t mean it won’t. And if it does…maybe tomorrow…we have a decent chance at handling it. But there is great solace in knowing we’ve done our best. I guess you could call it security…or peace of mind.

Why did I use the comparison of ‘lifestyle’ vs ‘hobby’? If you only do it as a hobby you can quite easily get burned out. Yeah, you have everything you need to survive for 2 years after the whole end-of-the-world event…and that event never happens. And all that stuff takes up a lot of room in the garage and basement…and your spouse complains about it. It makes it real easy to include all that prepper stuff in your next garage sale.

If your prepping is your lifestyle you don’t burn out because you know it could easily be a lifesaver great or small. And you love the sense of security that it gives you for your family.

Let me close with this simple message…you can do this and there are lots of folks out there just like you who also want to do this. Now, start prepping and hook up with some of those folks and support each other. One step at a time, one foot in front of another…you eat an elephant one bite at a time…be patient.

I hope in this series of articles I have answered the original question “What can I do?” I can imagine that most readers already knew most of this information. What I am hoping for is that some little piece of information struck you as important in some way…to inspire you to be a better prepper. Being a prepper is never a waste…everything you have, everything you’ve learned is useful. At some point it may even be lifesaving.

If you still don’t know exactly what to do…I would ask you to pray about it. Simply ask what it is you should do…it doesn’t have to be a complicated prayer. Just ask with real intent to hear the answer…and you will.

Thank you for spending all this time with me and reading so much of my materiel. I truly appreciate your efforts. We are starting a New Year…let’s use it wisely together.

Note: If you have any desire to gain some additional information and insight, you can < click here >

You can also ask a question of me or share a thought with me…

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Articles in this Series –

• ASKED OF ME: What can I do?
• What can I do? (Principles)
• What can I do? (Laying the Foundation)
• What can I do? (Practical)
• What can I do? (Critically Important)
• What can I do? (Non-Conventional Prepping)
• What can I do? (Personal Note & Summary)

Related Articles –

• Check List – Introduction
• Check List – Violence
• Check List – Injury or Sickness
• Check List – Communications
• Check List – Organization
• Check List – Starvation (food storage)
• Check List – Dehydration (water storage)
• Check List – Exposure
• SitRep – 07/17/20 – WARNING !

 

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