Emergency Prepping with Prudence
It seems there are two camps when it comes to emergency prepping. Either you are all in: off-grid homesteading with a solar generator, homemade water filtration system, and a cellar full of homegrown canned food stores OR you have nothing because it all seems overwhelming and you’d rather not think about it! Or perhaps you are under the impression that prepping = not trusting God.
As I write this I live in the suburbs. With city water. And a Target close by. Most of my friends and neighbors haven’t really thought much about emergency prepping for a wide variety of reasons. I would like to persuade you all to take a step in the direction of preparedness. I have a freebie to help you and your husband come up with a reasonable plan for your family.
All Those Pesky Ditches
This is an area where the middle ground can be hard to find. If you start searching for blogs or YouTube videos on emergency pepping you basically find a lot of content that assumes you are ready to dive in with buying a solar generator, that you are adept at pressure canning food, and are considering digging out a bunker in your backyard. On the other hand, you could do absolutely nothing. I would propose a more “middle ground” first step. You could determine a measured degree of preparedness through prayer and evaluation of your circumstances and resources!
There are also ditches in our perspectives on preparedness. I know some Christians who feel that emergency prepping is incongruent with trusting the Lord. After all, we should let tomorrow worry about itself (Matthew 6:34) right? On the other hand, one could easily slide into the ditch of trusting in the food and emergency supplies stockpiled in the basement. The high and narrow road lies between those two ditches! It is possible to not be anxious about the future and be grateful that God has given you the wisdom and resources to be prepared for that future.
When I look at my well-stocked pantry I can set my heart right through gratitude. I can thank God for allowing me to store up food, be grateful that He gave me the intellectual faculty to accomplish it, and celebrate the gift of wisdom that comes from Him! I can also acknowledge that He holds my future and directs my steps. He cares for me. He has already provided for the worst event in my future by sending His Son to pay for my sins. Surely He will also carry me through lesser emergencies. I need not fear the future even as I prepare for it.
Biblical Examples of Emergency Prepping
No, you won’t find the phrase “emergency prepping” in your concordance. But there are plenty of examples. Partly because throughout most of history if you didn’t “prep” in some ways you’d just not survive. Preserving food was simply the way of life because there were no refrigerators! Here are four notable Biblical examples for you:
Joseph in Egypt
You can read the actual account of Joseph (which is even better than the Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat musical) in Genesis 37 to 46, but the part about emergency prepping is mainly in Genesis 41. Pharaoh had disturbing dreams that Joseph interpreted. The dreams predicted 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph was placed in charge of storing up food for Egypt. He stored up grain in great abundance and then, when the famine came, the Egyptians and people from the surrounding regions were able to come and buy food and live. Among those who relied on Joseph’s stores were his very own brothers – the entire Israelite nation would not have survived apart from Joseph’s “emergency prepping”.
The Ant and the Sluggard
Proverbs 6:6-11 advises us to “Go to the ant”. The ant prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. In other words, she preps for Winter! We are commanded not to be sluggards but rather to consider the ways of the ant and be wise. Hard work and diligence are commended all over the book of Proverbs with the caveat that while a man plans his ways, the Lord directs his steps. We are always to remember that God is sovereign over our circumstances and our future. We can plan and be wise while also trusting that He is directing our futures even through the means of our current preparations.
Noah: the Ultimate Emergency Prepper
Like Joseph, he actually was made privy to future events. He was obedient to the Lord and “by faith” built the ark and stored up provisions inside of it. I am not in the same situation as Noah: God hasn’t told me directly what is going to happen and spelled out the exact plan for how I should get ready. But there is an example of preparedness here alongside of obedience and faith. God could have just spoken an ark into existence but instead he asked Noah to spend a great deal of time and energy preparing.
The Proverbs 31 Woman was all about emergency prepping
“Strength and dignity are her clothing and she laughs at the time to come: Proverbs 31:25. Why is she laughing? She isn’t fearful for the future! This woman is both fearing the Lord (verse 30) and also working very hard. She looks well to the ways of her household, she isn’t idle, she has her family clothed in scarlet and thus isn’t afraid of snow, she gets up early and stays up late working hard on her provisions for her family, she buys a field and plants a vineyard, etc. In addition to all that, she also provides for her servants (maidens) and she is generous with the poor and needy.
We know she had food and clothing prepared for Winter and that she could laugh about the future. What would she be doing right now? If you could sit down to tea with her what would she advise you regarding emergency prepping?
Ok Let’s Get Practical – What Should I Actually Do?
The problem I see with so many blogs and lists and videos out there on the subject is that they are specific to a particular family facing a particular circumstance. Or, they are way over the top for a person who is just beginning. What I think you should do is sit down with your husband, pray, and use my printable to come up with a plan for your family, in your circumstances. The end. Just kidding. That is what you can do after you read this, but, as a help, I’ll share some more thoughts.
Types of Situations to Prep for
Consider a wide variety of emergencies you might prepare for! A car problem that leaves you stranded on the side of the road, rising food costs, forecasted food shortages, a job loss or a gap between jobs, an injury, a big financial hiccup, a zombie apocalypse (just kidding), government collapse or societal instability, crime, power outages, nuclear attack or war, etc.
Some situations are likely. Rising food costs, for example, are actually happening right now! There is a 100% probability you will experience that situation as I write this. Power outages happen frequently due to commonplace things like storms. The point is that you are likely to have situations where preparedness will come in handy!
Some situations are less likely. Many people built bunkers during the cold war and never needed to use them. That doesn’t mean a nuclear attack will never happen – just not as likely as a power outage. The situations you prep for will vary from family to family. Pray and discuss with your husband. Assess your risk comfort level.
Areas of emergency preparedness
For each situation you want to prepare for you can consider ideas for different basic needs. Start with items that you already have a use for. Consider just having extras of products you already use in your home and things that you could also use for camping or travelling.
Water
In an emergency you’ll need water. It could be as simple as keeping some water bottles in the trunk of your car. I heard of someone keeping their mason jars filled with water rather than empty when not in use. You can also purchase a wide variety of filtration products in the case that you are without safe drinking water. We have a Sawyer Squeeze filter that we use for backpacking as well as preparedness. I have lots of friends who love their Berkey filters (not just for emergencies but for every day!)
Food
You can buy emergency prepping food kits, but I would advise you to do a bit of research on them. Sometimes they are loaded with sugars that add empty calories and you don’t want to pay for that.
What we do is simply purchase one or two extras of the non-perishable items that we already buy. For example, if I am buying spaghetti and sauce for this week I just buy two boxes and two jars. I label mine with the month and year. When I go to my panty I take the oldest one.
I also have thought about a few non-perishable items that we depend on. I have some dehydrated milk and canned coconut milk in the case that we can’t get milk. Same with canned meats – spam isn’t usually part of our diet but I have a few cans for the event that meat is scarce. Be careful buying lots of things that you don’t regularly use right now. Consider what kinds of meals you could make from a well-stocked pantry.
Shelter and heat and power
Depending on the situations you choose to prepare for you may want to consider options for shelter. We like to camp and have a tent handy. Knowing how to build a fire is a good skill in an emergency. We have wood and fire starters on hand. There are endless reasons to have a tarp or two in your garage. Also, consider heating options for your home in case of a loss of power! Not only will it keep you warm but it might keep your pipes from freezing.
A flashlight with some batteries is an easy thing to have on hand. Candles are great too. You can also stock shortening and some wicks – not only will you have some cooking oil but you’ll also have supplies to make long lasting candles. We bought these cool Luci lights. They are solar charged, can charge my phone, and give off really nice warm light (We have the base light version). We can use them when the power goes out, sitting on our back deck at night, in the back of the van during nighttime road trips, and camping!
Medicines and Hygiene
Consider building a supply of prescription medications. It can be tricky with various insurance plans. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist. I just try to refill my prescriptions a few days early and stock up that way. Acetimeniphine, Ibuprophine, Benadryl, Hydrogen peroxide or Rubbing Alcohol, bandages, etc. are just good to have on hand in your medicine cabinet. In an emergency you might not be able to get them. They can also be bartered for other goods if society plummets. Soap, bleach, vinegar, and other cleaning supplies are good to have on hand. You’ll wind up using them anyway if no emergency ever happens. Just keep some extras on hand!
Defense
From keeping a baseball bat under your bed to having an armory full of guns and ammo you’ll want some sort of defense. It is your second amendment right. (I would argue that it is your responsibility as a US citizen.) Consider defense against an intruder, a wild animal when you are camping, a looter during civil unrest, or the government when Orwell’s 1984 finishes coming true. Just saying. Get a gun. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, consider a baseball bat or a knife or something. And get proper training no matter what you choose. Having a tool for defense is pointless if you don’t know how to operate it safely!
Also, you could use them for hunting. Except that baseball bat. You could also use that for playing baseball though, I suppose. (Although, my husband grew up in western KS where they used clubs during the Dust Bowl to combat the jackrabbit population that was destroying their crops!)
Finances
Financial preparedness is really important too. Start now. Meet with a financial planner. Diversify your savings! Financial preparedness could be an entire separate article but it is worth considering along with other areas of preparedness.
Skills
Previous generations had a lot of skills and knowledge that are lost to us today. We may know more about navigating the internet but I only know a handful of people who can grow and preserve their own food. Consider learning a few skills. I think the easiest way to do this is to go camping, but I am biased because I love camping. Have fun learning about canning, gardening, fire building, clothes mending, water filtration, building a shelter. Start with what interests you and go from there. Learn these skills with your kids! Instead of just building a fort with sheets in the living room go outside and build an actual shelter in your backyard! Instead of just baking cookies with your kids make some pickles or jam so you learn some food preservation skills.
How to build a customized emergency prepping plan for your family
Use this printable to guide you through a discussion with your husband about preparedness! It will enable you to come up with a logical and reasonable plan for your own family. You’ll never be 100% prepared for every situation but as far as emergency prepping goes something is better than nothing. Just come up with a plan and steadily plod through it!
Prepping for the One Sure Catastrophe
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21
There is one emergency that every person will face. No matter what precautions you take, there is no escape from death. Are you prepared for that? What will happen to you after you die? This parable of Jesus is sobering. There is zero point in preparing for short term survival if you are not prepared for eternal survival.
So how do you prepare for death? It isn’t by stockpiling “good works”. Every single human on the planet is a sinner and every single “good” thing we do is tainted by sin. The fact is, we deserve death and judgement because God is holy and righteous and we, all of us, have rebelled against him. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and died instead of you. He took the judgement and punishment that we deserve. Salvation comes through faith in Him. He took your sin and offers you his righteousness. It is a free gift! You can take hold of it only through faith. If you want to know more, I’ll direct you to this 6 minute answer from John Piper.
I’d love to hear in the comments what you took away from this and if you have any advice for beginning preppers! Also, this post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase in Amazon after clicking one of my links I can earn a small commission at no cost to you!
