It's Not Too Late to Start Prepping Ahead of the Massive Hardships to Come

There was a time not too long ago when I laughed at preppers. I was so wrong and I'm glad I was brought to my senses.

There's a line in the "classic" movie Dirty Dancing that always stuck with me. When Dr. Jake Houseman, played by the late Jerry Orbach, found out that he had falsely accused his daughter's boyfriend of getting another girl pregnant, he didn't apologize.

"I know you weren't the one who got Penny in trouble," he said. "When I'm wrong I say I'm wrong."

Okay, so it's not much of a line. It's not like something in Casablanca or either of the first two Godfather movies. But it really stuck with me even though I didn't care for the movie itself. The lesson I learned over three decades ago was that it's more impactful to acknowledge being wrong than to bloviate apologetically.

I was wrong about prepping. For years, decades even, I would make fun of the "doomsday prepper" friends I had. By my ignorant reckoning, we were in the United States of America, a land that could never fall in my lifetime. I thought it was prudent to be prepared for a natural disaster or power outage, but my friends with years worth of food stockpiled seemed to be engaged in preparedness overkill.

Today, I'm not completely happy with the year's worth of food I currently have stored away. It's not enough when I consider the direction the nation and the world are heading. Whether one believes we are nearing the Biblical end times when the "unmarked" will not be able to buy or sell, or if one takes the secular belief in the New World Order and their depopulation/control agenda, it certainly seems like were years or even months away from having to make hard choices.

Those two scenarios are not mutually exclusive. Some would say the New World Order is doing their thing as representatives of the Beast from the Book of Revelation, paving the way for his short-term rule.

One of the biggest choices millions of Americans will have to make is whether to become beholden to our rising overlords in government and industry or to let our families starve. They're rapidly taking full control of the food supply and the infrastructure to deliver it to the people. It's not far-fetched to imagine a near-future American society in which only the compliant are allowed to get decent food. The rest of us will be left with dregs or nothing at all.

I hope I'm wrong. I often pray that I'm wrong. But I'd much rather be prepared and find out I was overreacting than to not be prepared and find out I didn't do enough while I still could. This is why I'm not satisfied with a year's worth of food for my family. If the things that seem to be coming to pass continue, then only those who have sustained food supplies will be able to avoid choosing whether to bow or die.

There's always a thin line between fearmongering and ringing the proper alarm bells. In our current situation, I do not believe I am being a fearmonger because the writing is on the wall.

• They are trying to limit our meat consumption, particularly beef, and they've openly declared that they will do what's necessary to stop cows from releasing methane for the sake of climate change.

• Food processing plants continue to come under attack. The first three or four may have seemed like coincidences, but we've now had dozens in the last year alone.

• Bird flu is spreading like never in history. Entire cattle herds are inexplicably dying. Fisheries are getting mysteriously contaminated. Crops are yielding far less than necessary. Again, these are not coincidences.

• Inflation is quickly pricing us out of being able to buy what we could before. I believe this is an attempt to normalize scarcity.

That's just a sampling of the many attacks on our food supply and distribution capabilities. All the while, corporate media refuses to report on any of it. So no, I do not think I'm being a fearmonger when I tell people to get prepared as soon as possible. When things start turning much worse, there will be runs on grocery stores. Crime will explode. We could see marauding gangs of scavengers, martial law, or complete societal collapse.

There are many things we need to do to prepare, but covering the basics of food, water, medicines, shelter, and ammunition are at the top of the list. I'll cover all of them at some point, but I want to start with food.

Now is the time to stockpile. First and foremost, fill up your cupboards, pantry, and freezers with food that can last for a while. Canned goods can last for years. Frozen meats can last for 12-18 months. It's important to get a good variety of foods that you and your family can eat today and tomorrow. Get them into a rotation so you can avoid spoilage and keep it as full as possible.

Today, the average American household has enough food on hand for two weeks. Depending on space and finances, try to get your regular food stores extended to as long as possible.

Once you're fully stocked with regular food, it's time to look at long-term and renewable foods. The best advice to give to those with the means is to allow yourself to produce your own foods. Not everyone has the means or the situation that's conducive to it, but those who can should have a full garden or even a mini-farm. Chickens can turn land into protein in the form of eggs. If you can raise cattle for milk, that's even better. I don't know if 1% or 10% of my audience has the means to engage in such a lifestyle, but if you can do it then I strongly recommend it.

Then, there's food storage. Canning and freeze-drying are my personal favorites because of retention of nutrients, but dehydrating food is cheaper. One of our sponsors is Harvest Right. Between my home and my company we've purchased 22 freeze dryers from them and we couldn't be happier.

Last but not least, there's long-term food storage purchases. Freeze-dried food that is stored in mylar bags, #10 cans, or food buckets are the play for those serious about survival. Those with enough money and space to store them can accumulate a quarter century worth of food, and some say the food can last even longer. Some of it's expensive. Some of it's cheap, like the staples of rice and beans. As long as you have access to water, you can survive on these foods for a very long time. I have five sponsors (well, four sponsors and a company that I own) for people to peruse if they choose.

I hope that by plugging my company into the mix rather than focusing on Whole Cows alone, readers will take that as an indicator of my intentions. I truly want as many people to be as prepared as possible. I could focus on the beef from my own company for selfish reasons, but I know that we'll all need more than just freeze-dried beef for the long-term.

It isn't just a sense of fellowship that drives me to want as many people as possible to prepare now. It's self-serving in a way because I know we'll need allies. It behooves the prepared for there to be others around us who are also prepared. Those who are not prepared and forced to make the hard choices ahead will not be our allies. The fewer Americans that are beholden to the powers-that-be for their survival, the better.

Despite all of my warnings, I want to be very clear about one thing. Proceed without fear. God's plan is wonderful even if most of us won't understand why we're suffering. Most of us will likely go through massive hardships and struggles in the near future, but Bible-believing Christians know how the story ends. Whether these are the end times or just an echo of a distant apocalypse, it seems almost certain that our struggles are just beginning. Don't let fear drive your preparedness. Get prepared because it's your responsibility to persevere.

As Jesus instructed the church of Thyatira, "hold fast till I come."