Preparing for Lean Times: A Lesson From Joseph

This week the Lord opened my eyes afresh to the lessons that can be learned from Joseph as I read Genesis 41 again. This is the account of Pharaoh's dream, Joseph's interpretation, and the plan for Egypt. After interpreting the dream, Joseph tells Pharaoh that there will be 7 years or plenty and 7 years of a very severe famine in the land of Egypt. Joseph tells Pharaoh that he needs to appoint a man who is discerning and wise to to oversee the land of Egypt. He tells Pharaoh to collect 1/5 or 20% of the produce of the land during the plentiful years. (Genesis 41:34) Pharaoh recognized that there is no one who is as discerning or as wise as Joseph is, so he makes Joseph overseer of the land of Egypt.

I sat and thought about how this applies to my life and the lives of all people. First, I think that this portion of Scripture shows that there will be times of plenty and times of leanness or famine. It also showed me that it is good and right to prepare for lean times while times are plentiful. These Egyptians were asked to sacrifice 20% of what the land produced so that it could be stored in preparation of the famine to come. In our own lives we face famine times. Perhaps there is a job loss or a death that greatly reduces our ability to bring in money to buy our basic needs. Or perhaps there are general down turns in the overall economy such as we are facing now.

My monthly grocery budget is $560. Divided out over a 4.5 week month that means that I have about $125 per week for food. If I took 20% of that amount which is $25. I could be using $25 dollars per week to stock up on food and other grocery items. This takes a bit of planning, wisdom and discernment. Sometimes I don't know what I should spend money on, but the Lord does. It is His money, and if I pray as I shop I can find deals on food and other non-food items.

It is good and right to ask the Lord to show us how to prepare for what may come. Only He knows your future. He desires to prosper us for His own purposes. Proverbs 6:6-11 tells us to look at the ant. She has no overseer, yet she provides food in the summer and gathers in food in the harvest.

I pray the Lord would bless you as you seek Him in your planning and preparing. Ask Him how he would have your family prepare.

May you be blessed...

Buy socks...

Thank you to all who decided to take the quiz yesterday and shared their results. Many found the results to be fairly accurate. If you haven't taken the quiz yet, please do so, and share your results.

The economic news today is not shocking, but it has the DOW taking a tumble at the moment. The GDP numbers are in for the 4th quarter of 2008, and they are showing a contraction larger than the economist had figured. It looks like the government may be owning up to 36% of Citibank as well.

I mentioned a few days ago that I would be delving into practical suggestions for dealing with a recession or even a depression. If you read any article on the Internet on this topic, you can boil down your recession/depression proofing preparations into three areas: pay off debt, save what you can and stock-up on what you will need. Furthermore, stockpiling or having a reserve of goods and raw materials can be broken down into these categories: food, personal hygiene and clothing. Yes, some of you might have other categories, but these are mine.

Clothing is the area that I would like to focus on today. I had not thought about stockpiling clothing, but as I read more and more articles from survivors of the Great Depression, I discovered a couple of things. Shoes and socks or stockings were a very needed and often expensive item during the Depression era. I read many stories of people using cardboard inside their shoes to extend their wearability. Socks are another item that wear out quickly. I don't know about you, but I do not know how to darn a sock. I don't even have a darning needle. So, I am planning to pick up some extra bags of socks and underwear for the members of my family. I think this is just smart.

Sewing skills would be beneficial in leaner times. It seems that women and men who could sew did all right with their clothing needs. I have a lot of fabric that I intended to used for different clothing items. I never got those garments made, but I still have the cloth to use for whatever I might need. Learn how to sew a pair of pajama pants. Teach your children these skills as well so that they can help. Right now, clothing is very inexpensive, but this might not always be the case. A devalued dollar will make even a six pack of socks unattainable for many.

Every family must make their own decisions on how to wisely spend the resources that they are given. I hope that this gives you some food for thought today.

Back in the Pantry

I have spent the better part of the last day, when not preparing Christmas gifts, reading up on a man named Gerald Celente. Gerald Celente is the CEO of trends research Institute, and he apparently has an amazingly accurate record on predicting economic events. Yesterday, this article came to my attention, Revolution, food roits, in America by 2012. It sounded a bit sensationalist. After reading the article I felt that it was the most doom and gloomy article I have read. However, I think he could be right.

That brings us back to the pantry. A friend sent me a link a few weeks back to a list of 100 Things That Will Disappear. I am not exactly sure where they will disappear from as many of these items would not be purchased at a Wal-Mart Superstore. Interspersed in the article are many suggestions for pantry items. Here is a summary list:

Honey/syrups/sugars
Beans/rice/wheat

Vegetable oil

Vitamins

Milk-powdered and condensed

Tuna fish

Garlic, spices, vinegar, and baking supplies

Flours/yeast/salt

Canned fruits, vegetables, soups and stews

Soysauce/gravies/boullion

Graham crackers/saltines/ pretzels/popcorn

Peanut butter/nuts

Chocolate/cocoa

Tea/coffee

Gum/candy

Where should someone start with a list like this. I started about 5 years ago with one 5 gallon bucket in a double wide mobile home with no basement, no attic, and no garage. I saved food where ever I could. Thankfully my kitchen was good size with ample cupboards which made up in some small part for what it lacked.

We have moved since then and my "pantry" has grown to a good part of my basement. I took some more recent pictures of my stock.

It is important to plan part of your grocery shopping budget for stocking up on something. I bought those cans of tomoto puree over a six week period earlier this fall. I think I bought 4 cans at a time. Now I have about 20 tomato puree and about 10 cans of crushed tomatoes. I also plan to buy one bulk item of plastic forks, knifes, spoons, styrofoam plates, bowls, plastic cups per month. I buy these at Sam's Club. So, I want to encourage you to start small, but plan to buy something extra this week at the grocery store.