My Purpose

I thought it would be a good idea at the outset to define my purpose in writing this blog. Why am I bothering to write it? What do I have to offer? After all, there are plenty of people more knowledgeable that have been at this for a much longer time than I. Why are we on this journey toward self-sufficiency?

In 2001 Oklahoma experienced a bad ice storm. I remember it very well. We were living on an Air Force base at the time. The day it started, the electricity to base housing went out. That evening I drove through a darkened town to purchase groceries and supplies. The shelves at the store were practically bare. Only one gas station had electricity and it soon ran out of gas. I had failed to fill our tanks up before the storm. As a result neither of our vehicles had enough gas to get us out of the local area. We were stuck. It took the base three days to get generators running in base housing. Many people in the surrounding area were out of electricity for weeks. During our brief period of "ruffing it" we camped out on our living room floor, played games and kept warm using the coffee can heaters that I'll post about another time. It was amazing how quickly things shut down. I was not adequately prepared. To the best of my ability I never want to be caught in that position again.

I was not a Y2Ker. I am not necessarily preparing for an 'end of the world as we know it' scenario. Although, if we try to prepare for that we will be prepared for ice storms, hurricanes or a broad range of other local or regional disruptions. What I am speaking of is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. An attitude of being as ready as we can be to survive, thrive and minister to others at all times even the difficult ones. It's sad that not even 100 years ago the knowledge and skills I am attempting to gain and put into practice would have been commonplace. Now many of them have been all but lost. I want to change this - at least in my home.

So with this in mind my purpose is twofold:

1.) To document for myself and my family where we have come from, what we learn along the way and where we are headed.

2.) Hopefully, by documenting our journey and discussing our lessons learned, our plans and our ideas we will benefit others who desire to move toward greater self-sufficiency.

I feel it necessary to be clear that in all of this we acknoledge and rest in the sovereignty of God Who governs and directs all His creatures and all their actions. May He richly bless and prosper us and may we glorify Him in all we do.

-- Post From My iPhone