Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… 1 Peter 1:3
May the miracle of Easter fill your spirit with joy.
While everyone is busy trying to make a bright Christmas, criminals are targeting people, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting.
Don’t let your joy be stolen by taking a few precautions:
Some people may say this is paranoia but I say it’s not being paranoid you if you really are being targeted. Christmas is a time of goodwill to all, but it is not the time to drop your guard. Pay attention to safety and security at all times.
© Apartment Prepper 2013
Looking for a last minute gift? Consider The Prepper’s Pocket Guide! Great for beginners, and lots of great tips for everyone:
As we celebrate Thanksgiving 2013 in the midst of a difficult economy, multiple natural disasters in recent months, worldwide protests and unrest, we are grateful to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families and friends.
Having a preparedness mindset, I realize all the things that can fail in our system. But I am grateful for things that have not failed. We have a roof over our heads, water in the tap, gas in our cars, and are able to find a variety of food at the grocery store. In this day and age of commercialism, people tend to forget what this time of year means. It is time to give thanks to God for all the good things that have gone on in your life. I hope Thanksgiving is not eclipsed by all the emphasis on Black Friday and marathon shopping days ahead. We should not take anything for granted. Let’s be thankful for what we have and be mindful of our blessings.
I’d like to thank our sponsors, whose support helps maintain the blog. My greatest thanks to you, dear readers, for taking the time to share part of your day with me. We hope we can all celebrate many more abundant Thanksgivings to come.
I wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday.
Sing to the LORD a new song, a hymn in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in their maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king. Let them praise his name in festive dance, make music with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people, honors the poor with victory. Let the faithful rejoice in their glory.
Psalm 149
For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
I wish you and your families all the joys and blessings of Easter.
Today as we celebrate Martin Luther King Day our thoughts turn to Dr. King’s life and legacy. I wanted to focus on what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Unlike other holidays, the King holiday is celebrated as a day of service. Not just a day off from work to sleep late and go shopping, it is a time to remember King’s dream for all people and his life of service.
What’s this got to do with prepping?
Well, negative publicity and comments in the media have implied that preppers are selfish in only looking out for themselves and their own families. This mistaken idea that prepared people don’t care about others is far from the truth. Many preparedness and survival experts recommend setting aside some of one’s own supplies to give to others who may be in need. You may do it without fanfare, and anonymously, but it is giving nonetheless. Many preppers who have stockpiles choose to donate to to food banks and other charities and share the bounty.
Other preppers get involved in groups that help their communities be more prepared, or actually get involved in disaster relief efforts.
At the same time, many individuals choose to give of their time and knowledge by showing others how to be more self-sufficient and prepared for the next disaster. Free information on how to prepare for disasters or acquire skills is freely given. You don’t need to spend money to be charitable. Just the simple act of showing someone who is willing to learn how to do things is helpful enough.
As we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, let’s consider using this day to do some something for others. To all the preppers out there doing service to others, not just today, but everyday: thank you and please keep up your great work.
Quick Update:
Promising new additions to Blog Links:
I was contacted by Dennis Evers about his new resource for “hands-on” preppers. Below is a description of his new site:
Preppers are typically “hands-on” kind of people, and with that in mind, a new website; “Preparedness is Fundamental”, has just been launched that features articles and short how-to videos on prepping for anyone that doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty. One video shows you how you can secure as many perfectly good batteries as you want for free while another walks you through the easy construction of a super bright, rugged 12 Volt LED prepper light for around $6.00.
Other information includes how to build a solar generator, gardening, free prepper materials and discount codes, while upcoming videos and how-to articles deal with a serious homemade smoker for under ten bucks, LED security lighting, long term food storage, seed preservation and more.
To the first 50 visitors “Preparedness is Fundamental” is offering a free eBook; “How to Handle a Crisis” (a $4.99 value) which deals with all types of disasters, terrorism, CBRNE, medical crises and survival.
To visit, go to http://proficientprepping.wordpress.com/
I’ve also added a link to Prepper Next Door, the blog companion to one of my favorite preparedness books: The Prepper Next Door: A Practical Guide For Disaster And Emergency Planning.
For beginning preppers
This week before the Thanksgiving holiday, while you are planning your Thanksgiving feast, consider inspecting your your food storage and see if you need to start rotating some of your items. I’ve only been prepping for a couple of years, but have found a few stored foods are starting to approach expiration dates.
So why not include some of your food storage items for Thanksgiving?
A few ideas:
Conversation Starter
It’s a good bet that at least 80% of your guests will not be preppers, and may have misconceptions about stored food. A lot of people still think that emergency food is mostly dry nutrition bars that no one likes. While your guests are raving about your dishes, and talk turns to recipes and ingredients, casually mention that some of those tasty foods are actually from your storage pantry. This may change their minds about the benefits of storing foods: convenient, delicious and cost-effective.
Review your Recipes Ahead of Time
As with any meal planning, you need to be familiar with the recipes you are making ahead of time. Making something new that you have no idea how it’ll turn out may cause regrets. I’ve had a few failures trying out new, untested recipes for a big event, so I don’t recommend it. Use tried and true recipes especially if you are using food storage, and leave experimentation for another time. Some good resources for planning meals: The Prepper’s Pantry: Building and Thriving with Food Storage by Anne Lang and 100-day Pantry: 100 Quick and Easy Gourmet Meals by Jan Jackson.
Rotate your Stocks
I hate wasting anything, and using some food storage for a nice meal would be worthwhile. Remember to replace what you just used with more recently purchased items.
For more preparedness tips, read my book:
Good ideas for building a food storage plan can be found here:
I wish everyone a Happy 4th of July! As we celebrate our country’s independence, let us remember all the heroism and sacrifice that went into gaining and maintaining our freedoms. At the same time, it’s a good time to consider our own personal independence from whatever keeps us from living our best life: freedom from debt, consumerism, destructive habits or even over-reliance on the system. We can’t all be off-grid, but we can all learn to be a little bit more self-sufficient as our freedom loving ancestors had been.
Enjoy!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead … 1 Peter 1:3
Amidst all the eggs and bunnies galore, let us all remember what we are truly celebrating.
I wish you all the joy and hope of Easter!
The much anticipated (or dreaded) 2012 is here! Even if you tried, it’s hard to miss all the doom and gloom apocalyptic themed shows with all sorts of predictions on 2012. It’s also hard to discount that there have been all sorts of grim economic news, unprecedented natural disasters and a plethora of threats. But let’s remember one thing: we’re still here. We’ll do the best we can to prepare and survive whatever comes along. Best of all, we’ll do it together.
For fast and easy tips to become more prepared, read my book:
