The Family Preparedness Song

I found this on the Preparedness Brings Peace Blog 

THE FAMILY PREPAREDNESS SONG
Tune: Did You Think to Pray? Hymn #140

Ere you spent your family's paycheck,
Did you think to save?
Just a little for the storage,
Just a little for the porridge
When the Times are grave,
Oh, how storage helps the faithful
When the Prophet's words we heed,
So, if you would not be Fearful,
Plan what you will need.

When your neighbor tried to teach you
How to can and sew,
Did you feel in-ti-mi-da-ted
And your plans pro-cras-tin-a-ted?
Now you're feeling low!
Oh, how empty are the cupboards,
Oh, how ragged are your clothes.
How you'll wish that you had listened
When the "good life" goes.

Wheat and beans and salt and honey
May not sound so hot.
But if you are going hungry,
If your tummy's cold and grumbly,
They can hit the spot.
Store some diapers for the kiddies,
Everything to see you through;
Cloth and patterns, thread and needles.
Store some long Johns, too.

If this topic's repetitious
And you're dull and bored,
When you've naught but empty dishes
And you've used up all your wishes,
You'll wish you had stored...
Food that's tasty and nutritious,
Cloths and bedding, tools and seeds,
Skills that guard your family's future
Gather what you'll need.
--Anonymous

Preparing for Emergencies- Ensign 1990 December

Ensign » 1990 » December

Preparing for Emergencies
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=0c9d66ce3a47b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Things to Know

Useful exercises conducted at home evening or at an appointed time can prepare family members to know—

• The location of first-aid equipment in the home. (See your pediatrician or family doctor for a complete list of standard medications to have on hand.)

• The location of fire extinguishers (near doors).

• The location of shut-off valves for electricity, gas, and water.

• The location of emergency water supplies (storage tanks, water heater, waterbed mattresses).

• Where important documents and valuables are stored, both inside and outside the home.

• Where to meet if the home is so damaged or dangerous that family members must leave or cannot enter the home.

• The best method of escaping the home in case of fire (practiced at intervals).

• Who is responsible for which younger members of the family.

• How to perform basic first aid.

In addition, most families keep near their telephones the numbers of the doctor, hospital, paramedics, fire department, police, civil defense authority, ward/branch leaders, and neighbors.

This article also covers the topics of a Year's Supply, Financial Management, Estate Planning, a Safety Survey, and more.

Well-Roundedness versus Specialization

I was looking around at a few websites and blogs about preparedness. One of them had this quote:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

--Robert Heinlein

Wow! I don't measure up too well.

But when times get tough, we will be thankful for every skill we have. The latest skill I have been trying to learn has been vegetable gardening. And I have to say, I am better at it after these two summers than I ever was before. So I know that if we take one skill at a time and try to master it, we can do it.

And maybe if we all learn different skills from each other, we can BARTER. That would work too.

Questions and Answers Video from Wendy Dewitt

This video has a lot of odds and ends at the end of Sister Dewitt's presentation.


Video #9- Questions and Answers
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv9.aspx

(Wendy Dewitt has a blog, and on her Nov. 12, 2008 blog post she gives basically her whole presentation.
http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html .)

Emergency Preparedness on a Budget

Here are the top ten tips for Emergency Preparedness, when you don't have buckets of money to spend. FoodStorageMadeEasy has printed these, courtesy of BeReadyUtah.gov

Be sure to go to this link

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2010/07/08/top-10-tips-for-emergency-preparedness-on-a-budget/

because they have lots of comments along with each tip--I'm only posting the 10 tips here.


1. Plan for specific disasters.
2. Create a personalized list.
3. Budget for preparedness items.
4. Save by shopping sales.
5. Store water in safe containers.
6. Request prep items as gifts.
7. Think ahead.
8. Review insurance policies.
9. Update contact records.
10. Trade a night out for prepping.

My New Calling-Provident Living Specialist

I was just called to be my ward's Relief Society Provident Living Specialist. This is the blog I have set up to store the messages on personal and family preparedness that I will be sending out to my ward in North Carolina.

You'll notice that I have lots of blog posts already. I have been writing on my personal blog about this subject for a couple of years already. So I put all those that I had previously written on here as well.