Tornadoes, brimstone and you – Hive and Nest

Last Friday I was on my weekly Costco trip getting our usual six gallons of milk and a jillion eggs. As I sat and tried to decide whether to buy some canned chicken I had the oddest feeling come over me; it was a feeling that food would be getting very expensive and I would regret not buying that chicken. This is not my usual imaginings that I experienced. It was from someplace else. Inspiration? I’m not sure. Only that it made me panic a little.

Obviously it’s not a stretch to see how food prices could go up. Gas is a fortune right now, half of the midwest is flooded, and the South is trying to pick up the pieces from a tornado infestation. Locally we are experiencing the driest and hottest spring that Texas has ever seen. Strange, considering just three months ago we had record-setting cold temperatures. What else does Mother Nature have up her sleeve for this summer?

I don’t want to get all Preparedness-Freak on you but I was talking to a pregnant Prepper friend of mine a while ago. She suggested all the turmoil in the world is like Braxton-Hicks contractions to a pregnant lady. Just like Braxton-Hicks are not the real thing, not actual labor, just the body’s way of getting ready for real labor, we keep having incidents that should make us pause and think, “Am I ready? Could I take care of my family if something terrible happened?” Usually these wildfires/toradoes/earthquakes end up not turning into anything serious nearby us, but do we take any action? At some point the time to prepare will be over.

In the last General Conference Jeffrey R. Holland said, “One way or another God will have His voice heard. “I sent you out to testify and warn the people,” the Lord has said to His prophets. [And] after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, … of thunderings, … lightnings, and … tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.” . . . Every sermon given is always, by definition, both a testimony of love and a warning, even as nature herself will testify with love and a warning in the last days.”

Since we’re on the subject, today we have a new preparedness item. It’s beans. Yes, beans, the magical fruit. Get some canned, get some dried. Just get some. Beans are cheap so this isn’t going to break the bank for you.

I recommend at least one bag of dried beans per person and 3-5 cans of beans per person in your family. They can be green beans, refried, black, lentils, whatever. This might be a great opportunity to try out some new recipes. If you have a fantastic bean-centric recipe, let me know about it and I’ll link to your blog or publish it here.