Preparedness is inexorably connected with Provident Living (read on...)

“Fix it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!”

"It is better to prepare and prevent than it is to repair and repent."

"No man is truly free who is in financial bondage."

"You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves."

The sentiment expressed in the short video below aligns with these principles of provident living, self-reliance, responsible management of resources and avoiding debt that President Ezra Taft Benson consistently taught as a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. During the years of his influence I had been raised by parents who had lived through the Great Depression and other tough economic times, and thus understood and modeled such values as a part of daily life. I was lucky that my late wife Nani, the Mother of my children, was raised in such a home as well. As a young father I worked at keeping these principles alive, not realizing how it would affect my family. My wife MaryAnn has added a measure of organized preparedness mindset to our family palette. I had considered these blessings, but not to the extent that I now do after observing and talking with my own children who now, though adversely affected by the corruption of our monetary system like everyone else, are anything but helplessly dependent on tenuous programs or government assistance. In fact some of my kids are sought after by their neighbors for their skills and abilities to problem-solve when a professional can’t be afforded. I couldn’t be prouder...some of you can relate. I hope and pray that they and we can keep our eyes away from “the idiot lamp” (what my Dad called a television screen and what he’d surely call a mobile device) long enough each day to learn, practice and pass on skills of autonomy…not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors and friends. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17c2kbmog7/