I had different posting for today, but seeing that southeastern Idaho has been plagued with earthquake swarms (116 as of today, Wednesday), and that there are literally hundreds of wildfires in Montana, Utah, California, Washington, Oregon  (let’s just say nearly the entire western United States can see smoke in the sky), and that there’s another major hurricane headed inland (Irma, like Harvey, will likely not be a popular baby name), I’m worried about you, wherever you may live.

Are you prepared?

Not just for the next disaster, but ALL THE TIME?

Doesn’t it make sense to ALWAYS have a week’s supply of water? (You can save your juice and soda bottles, wash them out, and store water in those.)

Shouldn’t we ALWAYS have a FEW WEEKS worth of easy-to-open-and-eat canned and packaged food? (Yes, you can live on cold baked beans and canned peaches for a few days, especially if you can’t get to a store, or the store is emptied.)

Shouldn’t we ALWAYS have an escape route planned? (Where would you go, how would you get there if you had an hour to evacuate?)

Shouldn’t we ALWAYS know where our important documents are? (Stick your birth certificates, insurance papers, vehicle titles, etc. in a waterproof tote today.)

I had a friend who said she didn’t like preparing for a disaster because then she felt she was “bringing it on,” and that made her nervous.

But here’s something I’ve discovered long ago: If you’re prepared, you no longer fear. 

Yes, prayers are good, but preparation is better.

Get ready, friends. For anything and everything, because it looks like it’s coming.

“Salem is fantastically ready, Guide Zenos! You and Rector Shin have done all that is humanly possible to prepare. We have reserves, we have plans, we have a place of escape—everyone is ready.”

~Book 7, The Soldier in the Middle of the World, coming October 2017 (unless I’m wiped out by a tsunami).