The goal of writing on both of my websites is to help you create a life of peace, understanding, and joy for you and your loved ones. This is the theme in the various parts of A Quiet Simple Life Series as well as the rest of the products I created for women.
We now find ourselves in what can only be described as a momentous time in history. This is now a rapidly developing situation that has the potential to become a full-blown crisis in some (or many) parts of our country. So the question I ask is how do we continue to create a cozy home filled with peace, understanding, and joy in the midst of this?
Creating a Cozy Home in a Crisis
I’ve written many posts about faithful Christian living in difficult times. Those posts are full of positive and encouraging information and links. For example:
It doesn’t matter if the difficult times we face come from within our home or without. During difficult times, a cozy life is exactly what we need.
- We need a life of peace with purposeful rhythm, organization, and routines.
- We need a life of understanding with strong relationships.
- We need a life of joy that includes simplifying our life to that which brings value to our lives.
This is still true, but what we are in now is much more than a difficult time. We need to reassess where we are for the sake of our loved ones and our own well-being. If you haven’t developed a plan for creating a cozy life for you and your loved ones, I hope you will jump in today.
1. Explore A Quiet Simple Life Series.
2. Get a copy of The Prudent and Prepared Homemaker. It contains a great deal of information that will help you.
3. If you have children, have a plan for how you are going to take care of them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Importance of Prayer in an Emergency
I hope you are praying for our leaders. I cannot imagine the amount of pressure they are under to sift through information from so many sources and make decisions that will impact the physical, mental, emotional, and financial health of so many tens and hundreds of millions of people. I told David I am thankful we have a businessman who loves the American people as president and a Christian vice president who is a former governor heading all of this up. It seems Providential to me that we have this combination of leaders at this time. They are not perfect, but I do believe they are doing their best.
I don’t have every answer for every situation someone will face in the coming weeks and months. I don’t have all of the answers for my own family. I pray and try to do the best I can. Make the most of the hours and days you have right now.
Our Cozy Home No. 19
I used to be good at keeping a supplied pantry. When I became so ill, I did grocery pickup and didn’t do much at all with stocking up. It became clear to me that the public would be in a panic and that would cause hysteria. So I just finished today with filling the pantry. I started 2 weeks ago. It took a lot more time simply because….I couldn’t get spaghetti or green beans for example. Black beans were out of stock. Well live and learn…I am grateful to have gotten what I did…there is just 2 of us. I spent about $450 to do this…a good investment for the next months. Stocking from now on…doesn’t matter Walmart is 5 blocks from me if they don’t have any of the items! I also was able to refill all our meds for 90 days.
Kelly,
I’m so glad you were able to put away extra over the past few weeks. I’ve noticed more holes on the shelves this week than ever before. We aren’t beans and rice people, but I did notice they were still on the shelves the last time I was at the store. However, I heard from a few people today there was no mac and cheese to be had at the different stores they went to in Michigan. LOL!
Sallie
Hello.
Thank you for this. You know, I began stocking up a few weeks ago. I was teased by many. Not anymore! Praying with you too.
Hi Billie Jo,
I’m glad this was helpful and you were able to stock up. Glad to know you are praying as well.
Re: the teasing… I just shared a video in the forum (made by someone else) who addresses this and other related topics. It’s about Adjustment Reaction.
Adjustment Reaction
Sallie
Hi Sallie,
I work at a hospital, so my chances of being able to work from home during all of this are slim to none. As you said, we don’t know how badly hit the areas each of us live in will be, and the situation is changing minute by minute. The ray of hope in all of this is that we are discovering new ways to combat this virus every minute as well. Leaders in the medical field as well as government leaders are working overtime on this, and taking things very seriously. At least that’s what I’m seeing. I’m not at all suggesting that anyone should treat this lightly, or act like it’s just another day.
I have to ask though, where does Christian faith and charity fit in with all of this? I understand that your primary purposes are creating a cozy home and being a good steward by preparing for your family during difficult times, but what about helping those who are stricken hardest?
This comment is already too long, and I won’t be offended if you choose, as the moderator not to accept it. I just couldn’t go another day being silent.
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl,
I’m not offended by your questions and I almost never delete comments.
Re: the faith aspect of it, I do have a whole series of posts that are part of my Prudent & Prepared to do list of topics. I haven’t gotten to them yet (along with probably 30 others). They include:
Is Preparedness Selfish?
Does Preparing Demonstrate a Lack of Faith?
Prudence in the Bible
The Proverbs 31 Woman
While some people are reading what I post in the forum, it isn’t getting a lot of traffic or interaction. It takes time for me to post even short and medium-length forum posts and there isn’t time to do it all, especially when I am doing it for basically free. The rest of my site is full of faith-based content and practical Christian living so I assume people read everything I write in that context. Faith is integrated into pretty much everything I write here. So while I haven’t addressed it explicitly, I think most of my readers are also of the Christian helping mindset.
A lot my readers also have their own set of challenges such as health issues, children with health issues, etc. They are, in fact, some of the very people who might need help themselves. So by taking care of their own needs as best they can, they will hopefully need less from others.
I also have an entire ebook in my shop about ministering to people with chronic illness. I have sold very few of them, but it’s an important ministry that most people have no interest in. It’s not visible or flashy enough. But there is a great need for it.
I think caring for our families is caring for other people. In this current situation, staying home means we reduce the chance that we become spreaders of the disease or catch it ourselves and need medical help.
Planning ahead for what we need means when new shipments of food and medicines and such come in to stores over the next several weeks, our family does not need as many resources that might be limited. That means people who didn’t have the means to plan ahead will be able to get what they need.
Other than caring for my family and homeschooling Caroline, this website is my main ministry. I do it because I care about people and want to share what I know. I don’t try to be all things to all people. I am who I am and I share what I can from my own life experience. I’m probably not as outreach minded as other Christians because I have my hands full simply trying to take care of my home, my health, homeschooling, running a business, paying my bills, and ministering to women through this website. That’s a full plate and it really doesn’t leave me time to “do” ministry outside these walls. That doesn’t mean I don’t care. It simply means that I’m doing what I can with what I have where I am.
I hope that helps.
Sallie
Good thoughts….that is my experience. I use my time to pray for others because I cannot be “out there” due to the chronic illness. I appreciate all you do Sallie…you have great discernment and I am grateful you share on this blog because it helps me become wiser also. Kelly
Thank you, Kelly. I appreciate you as well.
Sallie
Thanks for your reply, Sallie. I in no way intended to say anything negative about your ministry. I love what you do, and I wish I could be more supportive financially, but our family’s resources are limited as well. I will take a look at the book you mentioned in your reply. I hadn’t seen it before, but it sounds like something I would like very much. I understand totally about caring for our families first, and I believe it is a mandate from God. Thanks for including me in the conversation. I know I’m in a little different stage of life because our children are beyond the homeschooling age. We did school all four all the way through, and that’s when I “discovered your website. You are a very necessary light in these dark times.
Blessings,
Cheryl