It's the End of the World as We Know it...

I am sitting at my brand new desk writing my first blog! This is my early birthday present.  It was all purchased at IKEA, except for the picture, and put together by yours truly...I was too excited to wait for Ron to get home and assemble it for me. 

Do you like it?  I love it!

(Forgive my messy cords, I will fix that soon!)

My desk isn't what today's blog is about though.  Ron and I just got back from the movies.  We saw Contangion.  I would like to talk a little about it.  "End of the World" scenarios have been on my mind and heart for a few weeks now.  If you know my husband, you know they have been on his for the past couple of years.  The possibilities have always been too much for me to handle.  Call me weak-hearted.  Maybe I am.  I felt I fulfilled my duty to think about such things when I saw The Road and consequently didn't sleep for weeks.  If THAT is the future, then I pray a nuke instantly wipes us out so we don't have to live through the resulting horrors. 

I still honestly feel that way for the most part.  However, I had a vivid dream in late August which changed my perspective on some things.  I won't detail my dream here, as it is the basis for a novel I am contemplating.  But I will say it involved drastic changes in our society which completely altered our living circumstances.  The dream blew my eyes and heart open- I woke up crying and knowing I had ignored vital truths. 

Contangion is the story of a bird flu type pandemic sweeping across the world, killing thousands in days.  I will not give important story details here, because everyone should see it.  It is well-made, directed by Stephen Soderberg, and has some big names in it which means good acting. The movie is also not so horrific as to make it impossible to sit through, as I feel describes The Road.  It is a story of survival, and how our daily lives and way of life can change in an instant.  How will we adapt under those circumstances?  How will we eat, protect ourselves...live?  The situation in Contangion is just one of many possible catastrophe situations we could encounter someday- nuclear war, a complete economic collapse, or an EMP.  In case you haven't heard the term before, EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse, which is achieved by detonating one or multiple nuclear weapons in the atmosphere above certain target locations.  The effect is a "pulse", which essentially fries all electrical equipment on the ground for thousands of miles.  ALL electrical equipment- cars made before 1984 would not start, no electricity, no water services, no computers, no life-saving devices- we would basically have our lives reverted back to the 1800s in an instant. And in case the EMP sounds like a bad Lifetime/Scifi movie plot to you...like it did to me at first also...know that Congress has already had hearings on the subject. 

I have educated myself a lot this past month on possible scenarios and preparation measures.  I didn't have to go far.  I told Ron about my dream and he handed me a stack of books from our bookshelf.  Yes, from OUR bookshelf...I can truly bury my head in the proverbial sand when I wish. I will recommend a few resources for the interested at the end of this post.  I know I probably lost a few of you at the words "catastrophe situation"- it's okay.  I ignored the subject matter for years so I know the feeling.  But here is MY one basic premise for thought and preparation:

I will not allow my daughters to come to ANY harm because of my lack of planning or preparation.  Period. 

That mission statement keeps me focused.  

I am not saying turn into a doomsday freak and build a bomb shelter in your backyard.  But there are some simple and easy preparations anyone can do to be ready for a disaster situation.  You can keep things simple by preparing for a three day power grid outage due to a blizzard, or choose to go deep by preparing for a possible year-long power grid outage due to an EMP.  There are a lot of resources and opinions out there to help.

I feel I should say this also- Planning and preparing does not mean a lack of trust in God, or to allow fear to rule in your mind, heart or decision-making process.  It simply means to do what you do every day- to care for your loved ones and your neighbors, just with a future specific method.  We plan for college and retirement, we should plan for crisis.    

But for today, I am simply asking you to think.  Think about the future, possible scenarios, and what YOU would do.  Be open.  Ponder it.  I am right here pondering with you.  Go see the movie and ponder some more.  One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, just wrote this week that the best writing advice he's ever received is to love your reader.  I do love you all, dear readers, and I care deeply about what would happened to each of you if Contangion came true tomorrow.  Ponder...for me please. 

Oh- and one other reason to go see the movie- it has my favorite U2 song in it...All I Want is You.  :)

Peace dear readers. 

*A few resources I have found helpful:
-One Second After, by William R Forstchen.  This is a New York Times bestseller now. 
     onesecondafter.com
-How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, by James Wesley, Rawles
- SurvivalBlog.com