2 Weeks In...
Well, it's been a couple weeks since my work status went from fully employed to semi-retired. I've gotten all the necessary 'paperwork' filled out & submitted, my wife has found us the additional coverage we needed to round out our healthcare & our oldest daughter with the grandkids & their dog just left to go back home after a very nice week-long visit. There was plenty of laughter & good times as always. It would be great to see them more often once things are up & running with the new business. As I've said before though, man makes his plans & God laughs. Who can blame Him. We still pray to Him & praise Him every day since He is the reason for our existence.
The job hunt continues without much coming through. There have been a few nibbles, but nothing concrete yet. Am I worried...NO. Something will present itself when the time is right & God is ready for it to present itself. I just need to be patient. In the meantime, we're getting into a new rhythm at home. No more up at 4 AM during the week, more like between 7 & 8 AM. Get the dogs out, get some breakfast while & check the email & news, then onto the business side of things to make sure things are working fine with the 'self-running' business & finally, make my daily posts on social media promoting our business. We're still attending on-line classes for the business to make sure we keep on top of what is going on & learning anything new that has come up. It's definitely not boring & it is definitely not very time consuming, which is the whole point of this new venture. Get it up & running, monitor it daily, meet up with others in the community & then go about your day.
If you're watching the news at all, you know that the world is pretty much a complete mess, no matter which side of the aisle you support. Turn it off & go do something else. The things happening today are in fact, very Biblical. Right is being called wrong & wrong is being called right. The craziness that is going on in the world is unbelievable. It seems like the lunatics are running the asylum. Growing up in the 80's was so much simpler. No computers, smart phones or internet. You were lucky if you had cable tv (we didn’t). More so if you had one of them fancy dancy VCRs. We didn't lock the cars in the driveway & the house doors were rarely locked when someone was home. By the way, we didn't live out in the country where traffic was rare, we lived on a 4-lane main road that was busy for most of the day. Simpler times? Yes, but society must progress for better or worse, or it will become stagnant & yellow like an old newspaper.
So where does that leave us today? If you believe in God & follow His word, you prepare yourself both spiritually & physically. Make you home & family safe to weather storms & otherwise. A back-up generator (whole-home, portable gas or solar). Have a supply of food in case you are not able to get to the store for a while. You'll need to decide how much food to store. Your survival food can be as simple as stocking up on non-perishable foods & storing them in a cabinet. Rotate new stock in with existing to keep the 'Use By' dates as late as possible. The other option is emergency food buckets. These will have a storage life of 10+ years as long as they're stored in a cool place. Don’t forget a really good water filter. We’ve got several including some that filter out radiological contaminants.
The last thing is a firearm. if not for self-protection, then for hunting for food. Look around, read, watch, ask questions & be curious. Not convinced? Did you know that even Jesus told His disciples to arm themselves? In Luke 22:36 - Then He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money-bag should take it, and also a traveling bag. And whoever doesn’t have a sword should sell his robe and buy one." If you have never shot a gun before, ask a friend who does if you can go with them to the range or take a class for beginners. I took 2 of my daughters to a beginner firearm class a few years ago. The first hour was spent in the classroom & the second hour was spent on the range using what was learned in the classroom. It benefitted all of us even though I had been shooting for several years already. It was time & money well spent, plus we had a great time together. Most importantly, rely on God. Get into His word & go to church. Talk with Him in addition to praying to Him. If you listen, He will speak to you & often times it will be a whisper, although I have been shouted at once or twice by Him. If you don't get an answer from Him no matter how hard you've prayed, that just might be your answer.
Where does that leave us now? That's up to you. My wife & I have plenty to do today & for the rest of time together, but we do what God's will is, knowing that "The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us." - Billy Graham. What you do with your life & how you live it is entirely up to you, just don't expect everyone else to agree with you or support you. It's not hateful or mean, get over yourself! I know that some people won't agree with the way we live our lives & that's ok. You don't have to agree with everything everyone does no matter what they say or how loud they shout it at you! We know our Father in Heaven & His opinion is the only one that matters to us.
Have a great day! - K
