Super Storm--a wake up call for preparedness efforts?

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It's been nearly a week now and it has been so devastating to see the destruction that the Sandy storm has caused back East. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of those who are suffering, have lost loved ones and who have lost so much. There is nothing like a natural disaster to help us realize what is really important in life. You realize how superficial so much of our lives are, and how our priorities can so easily become confused. If there is any silver lining to this storm, I hope it is that we all reevaluate our preparedness efforts and find ways to fine tune our family's emergency preparedness plans so we can better weather whatever storms may come our way. I hope that we can all do two things...first, find a way to help those who are suffering and secondly, make it your family's goal to become better prepared before the new year comes.
One thing we learn from recent disasters is that no matter how wonderful our local servicemen are, there will always be too much work for a select few to accomplish. We can not rely on the government or our local authorities to help us following a natural disaster. We need to be prepared within our own homes and family's so we don't have to rely on those around us for food, shelter, fuel and any other items our family may need.
We don't want to fight the crowds and get to a grocery store that is bear like this one was, just to find out there is no food to feed our families. The time to prepare is BEFORE the storms of life hit. I love the quote that says, "the best time for Noah to begin building the ark was before it started to rain. Once it rained, it was too late".  Don't wait until it 'starts raining' to prepare. Set aside food and get your houses in order prior to hardships that might hit your family.
Our blog is filled with several ways you can become better prepared. Here are a few links to help you in your preparedness efforts:
*Three easy steps to becoming prepared!*Catch the vision--find out ways to store your food, how to organize your storage room and where to begin if you are just starting your preparedness efforts.*First Aid Preparedness--find out what items you should have on hand to be able to handle most basic first aid emergencies.*5 items everyone needs to store in your food storage.*Water storage 101*Storage tips for small spaces--don't use small spaces as an excuse to why you don't prepared. Where there is a will, there is a way!*Christmas gift ideas to help your family become more prepared.

Now, besides working on your own families emergency preparedness plans, I hope we can all find a way to help those who are suffering. My son had a great idea to have a cookie sale, so he could send the money he earned to those people back East. I loved this idea! The kids had a great time baking cookies, making posters and running around the neighborhood telling people about their good cause. It was great for me to sit back and watch them take on this project on their own. I can honestly say the only thing I did was take the cookies out of the oven and the dishes. They ran this whole event all on their own and in just 2 hours made over $50! It obviously will not solve all of the problems, but if we all give a little, we can all do a lot!Even our little ones were excited about helping make cookies! Here were the two easy cookies my son decided to make for his bake sale. They were big hits!!
 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies--THREE ingredient cookies, I LOVE these!!
 Favorite chocolate chip cookie--use the M&M's from your children's trick or treat buckets for an extra colorful and yummy cookie ;)