Sunday, May 1, 2016
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot 25 April, 2016
Prayer Breakfast: Chosen by God
0700 at BJ’s Restaurant
Hamilton Montana
Oh Father,
you have created us, called us, chosen us to be your people. We wait now to
receive your word of guidance and blessing. Grant unto us ears to hear, eyes to
see, and faith to respond to your love and leadership. In Jesus Christ’s name
we pray. Amen.
1. Opening - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
2. Morning Psalm: 126
3. Breakfast Reading: Romans 5:1-11
4. Breakfast is served
5. Breakfast Discussion Topics:
a.
News around the valley
b.
Week 15 of 52 weeks of preparation by Tess Pennington
c. Memorial
Day
6. Closing - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
7. Benediction
May
the peace of God fill my heart, mind, and activity all this day long. Amen.
Upcoming Events:
0700,
2 May 2016 – Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
1200, 5 May
2016 – National Day of Prayer, Patriot’s House, Stevensville, MT
0700, 9 May 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
0700, 16 May 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
0700, 23 May 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
1000, 2 May 2016 – Corvallis Memorial
Day Parade, Corvallis, MT
0700, 6 June 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
0700, 13 June 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
0700, 20 June 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
0700, 27 June 2016 – Christian Veterans of
the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
Follow the Fellowship of Christian Veterans:
Week 15 of 52:
Emergency Medical Supply (List 3)
Last week, my 5-year old slammed
her finger in the door so hard that we thought it was broken for sure.
Immediately, her finger began swelling and my husband and I were about to bolt
out to the door to take her for an X-ray. She was terrified and crying, and all
we wanted was to take her pain away. I grabbed an instant ice pack out
of our medical supplies for her finger and decided to wait 30 minutes to
see if the swelling changed. I laid her on my bed and cuddled with her while
ensuring her fingers were in between the ice pack. When I checked her finger,
the swelling had begun to subside and I breathed a sigh of relief. You
never know when a medical emergency will arise, but you are always hoping that
when it does, you will be ready for it.
As I previously mentioned, to be fully prepared for a
medical disaster, you need to have a well-rounded medical supply.
Since there are so many different types of medical supplies to store, I have
broken them up to make the list more affordable. Click to see List 1 and List 2.
Because medical emergencies can occur suddenly and without warning,
your medical supplies should be diverse and unique to your family’s needs.
Situations may arise and getting to the store or the emergency room may not be
a viable option. Therefore, having a wide array of medical supplies at your
home can help diffuse an alarming situation.
When creating a medical supply, think about which medical issues
will most likely occur and prepare accordingly for them. Also, have some
supplies on hand for any family members who have pre-existing conditions would
make a prolonged disaster more comfortable.
In 2006, The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
(NHAMCS) released a 2006 Emergency Department Summary that gathered statistics
of emergency department use, including the most common reasons adults and
children sought medical care and treatment. Having medical supplies that could
assist in these common medical emergencies would be proactive on your part.
- Children
Fever
- Childhood
Earaches
- Various
injuries such as sprains, strains, broken bones
- Chest Pain
- Abdominal Pain
- Back Pain
- Shortness of
Breath
It is very important to have vitamins in your medical supplies.
Vitamins are essential in regulating body functions and also help in the
healing process. Storing the right types of food that have the highest amounts of
vitamins would be one way of ensuring that your diet is vitamin packed.
Therefore, prepare by having first hand knowledge on what vitamins the body
needs on a daily basis. Storing multivitamins such as, Centrum
multivitamins or Centrum Silver multivitamins are great options.
Ensure that your vitamins and medical supplies are stored appropriately and organized in a way that is easy to access. When
an emergency arises, the person administering medical assistance will be
appreciative that everything is in place and be ready for use.
Preps To Buy:
- Sunscreen
- Anti-fungal
cream or powder
- Hydrocortisone
cream
- Nasal spray
(saline)
- Saline solution
- Lip balm
- Flashlight
(Small)
- Allergy relief
medication
- Vitamin
Supplements
- UTI meds
- Medical
reference books or e-books on handling medical crises
- Sterile
adhesive bandages in assorted sizes
- Adhesive tape
or duct tape
- Gauze pads
(assorted sizes)
- 2-4 instant ice
packs
- Sterile roller
bandages
- Sterile
surgical gloves
- Latex gloves
Action Items:
1. Create some first response medical packs to
make emergency situations easier to care for.
2. Take another first aid course, or purchase a first-aid book.
3. Practice basic first-aid techniques regularly.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot 18 April, 2016
Prayer Breakfast
0700 at BJ’s Restaurant
Hamilton Montana
Oh Father,
who has ordered this wondrous world, and who knowest all things in earth and
heaven: So fill out hearts with trust in thee that by night and day, at all
times and in all seasons, we may without fear commit all that we have and hope
to be to thy never-failing love, for this life and the life to come; in Jesus
Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
1. Opening - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
2. Morning Psalm: 136
3. Breakfast Reading: Hebrews 13:1-6
4. Breakfast is served
5. Breakfast Discussion Topics:
a.
News around the valley
b.
Week 14 of 52 weeks of preparation by Tess Pennington
6. Closing - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
7. Benediction
The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen
Upcoming Events:
25
Apr 2016 – Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
Follow the Fellowship of Christian Veterans:
Week
14 of 52: Mental Preparedness
So many get caught up in
compiling survival tangibles we forget about the most important asset – our
mental preparedness. Mental preparedness implies possessing the right frame of
mind to handle stress before, during and after a disaster. This aspect of
preparedness is directly connected to spiritual preparedness. Spiritual preparedness strengthens based on the established
core belief system that guides and serves you throughout your walk of life.
Once your spirit is prepared, you will become more mentally prepared for
dealing with a disaster situation.
Mental preparedness sounds great, you may say, but stress has a
physical toll on the body, how can we prepare for that? Understanding chemical
and biological reactions to stress will shed some light on how stress affects
us all. Biologically speaking, stress or anxiety (especially after an
unexpected event) leads to a short-term imbalance of neurotransmitters such as
serotonin and norepinephrine. This leads to physical and emotional reactions to
stress. For tips on how to curb these natural reactions and reduce
stress, click here.
One principle you must keep in mind when dealing with emergencies
is that change is inevitable. Change is the one true constant in this universe,
yet it is something we tend to stress about and avoid all together. Many
do not handle stress well because they are unprepared to deal with what has
been thrown at them. They are resistant to change. This rigidity will only
hinder them from finding solutions. Disasters bring change and a lot of it. An
aspect of mental preparedness, therefore, is learning to be more fluid and
respectful of change in your day-to-day life. This ease in movement and
acceptance of change will help you adapt more quickly to all situations. The
more flexible you learn to be, the more adaptable you will be in an emergency.
We have all heard that practice makes perfect. One way to be
mentally prepared for situations of extreme stress, therefore, is to practice
rehearsal drills. Consistent practice will turn your life-saving plans into
muscle memory. This rehearse-to-be-ready concept is how many emergency
personnel and even athletes train to condition their mind and body. This
could make all the difference when stress is sending your neurotransmitters out
of whack. Even implementing stress relief techniques when responding to daily
stress helps. The daily “minor disasters” give valuable insight into your
mental and physical reaction to stressors, allowing you to know how you best
perform under pressure.
Preps To buy:
The best way to begin increasing mental preparedness is through
knowledge and practice. Read, watch, and walk through any information on
disaster preparedness you can get your hands on. Enhance your mental and
literal survival library. Increasing your knowledge of disasters will increase
your perspective of your preparedness options. The Survival Blog has some excellent suggestions for survival
literature and movies that you could watch. Here are some learning suggestions
that I have found helpful:
- Start learning
about disasters, how people are affected by them and the dangers they may
encounter.
- Research
first-hand accounts of survivor stories and recent disasters to learn
what the victims came up against and how they survived.
- Invest in some
survivor literature such as: Patriots by James Wesley Rawles,One
Second After by
William R. Forstchen, Lights
Out by David
Crawford, theLeft Behind series by William Tim
LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
- Watch some
survival/apocalyptic movies such as, The Day After Tomorrow, The Road, Jericho, Survivors, The Book of Eli,
or Outbreak.
- Watch disaster
documentaries.
- Discuss
disaster scenarios and plans with other like-minded individuals.
This is a great way for you to be aware of your community, your
plans, and your current state of being.
- To be even more
thorough, find out what disaster plans your community has in place so
that you can plan more accordingly.
Action Items:
1. Decide which emergencies and disasters you need to be mentally
prepared for.
2. Take some time and brainstorm potential disaster scenarios from
this list. What stands in your way of preparedness? Think about how your family
could be affected, what types of dangers you may face as a result of being in
these disasters, etc., and find ways to be prepared respecting your mental
reaction to stressors.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot 11 April, 2016
Prayer Breakfast
0700 at BJ’s Restaurant
Hamilton Montana
Oh Father,
in whom I find life, health, and strength, through whose gifts I am clothed and
fed, through whose mercy I have been forgiven and cleansed, be for me guide,
strength, Saviour, and Lord all the days of my life. In Jesus Christ’s name we
pray. Amen.
1. Opening - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
2. Morning Psalm: 131
3. Breakfast Reading: Isaiah 40:9-11
4. Breakfast is served
5. Breakfast Discussion Topics:
a.
News around the valley
b.
Week 13 of 52 weeks of preparation by Tess Pennington
6. Closing - Round the Table
Individual Prayers
7. Benediction
Almighty
God, cause your good gifts to flow in and through my life and ministry this day
and always. Amen.
Upcoming Events:
18
Apr 2016 – Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
25 Apr 2016 –
Christian Veterans of the Bitterroot Prayer Breakfast
Follow the Fellowship of Christian Veterans:
Week 13 of 52:
Spiritual Preparedness
We tend to play stories in our
head. Whether they are truth or fiction, we live through these stories and feel
them as if they are really happening. When I began Ready Nutrition two years
ago, I plunged myself head first into every preparedness book and article,
studied every possible disaster I may run into, and every grim scenario.
Needless to say, I was playing a 24-hour TEOTWAWKI scenario in my head and
became weary as a result. In my mind, I was not studying it, I was living through
it. Even though, I prayed regularly and had accepted God into my heart and
lived a Christian life, I found it hard to cope because there was something
missing. I realized I had not put any thought into my spiritual
preparedness before I began this arduous preparedness journey.
I am sharing my doomer fatigue experience with you because I
want each of you to know that the end result of not preparing your spirit
for hard decisions and troubling times will effect your overall well being and
make it all the more difficult for you to shake the effects of the
disaster away. The longer you stay in the shock and awe of the
disaster moment, the longer it takes for you move into surviving.
Choosing to prepare now is a choice you made with your spirit to
survive. You are putting plans in place, purchasing basic living items,
tools, and presently you are working on your spirit to be prepared. When you
are spiritually prepared, the groundwork is then laid for mental preparedness (something we will dive into next
week).
As James Allen once said, “Every man thinks, lives and acts in
exact accordance with the belief which is rooted in his inner most being.”
Essentially, spiritual preparedness is your moral compass that guides you
through the good and bad times. It is your core beliefs that make up who you
are and serve you throughout your walk of life. These beliefs are
what guide you, motivate you, sustain you or they will do the complete
opposite. They will either become a negative or positive influence depending on
what they hold as truths about the nature of yourself and your reality.
Exercising these core beliefs will help you further
develop and be more aware of where your spiritual growth is at and
what you need to improve on. You can develop this further by
being aware of it and by utilizing these mental exercises:
1. Sit and reflect by asking yourself moral questions such as:
- Am I what
I want to be?
- Do I have the
courage to make the hard changes to be a better person?
- Do I have the
courage to turn away from bad habits?
And going even further, asking the tough preparedness questions
and really investigating why you chose to answer the way you did can help
you in developing your spiritual preparedness. Here are some examples of these
types of questions:
- What would I do
if a neighbor needed my help? How far would I go to help my neighbor?
- If a relative needed
food, would I help them? Why is it important to help others?
- Would using a
gun on a home intruder be something I could do? Why would I feel bad
about it?
- Would I feel
responsible if I could not help someone medically and they died? Why am I
taking that burden on?
Working and further developing your moral compass will
help you in finding the answers to tough situations during disasters. Most
importantly you will find peace in the midst of adversity. Possessing this
spiritual preparedness will lay the groundwork for being mentally prepared for
disasters. The card game, Conflicted to
exercise your spiritual preparedness and learn what you would do in certain
survival situations.
2. Knowledge is power. Reading inspirational books and printing
out inspirational passages that call to you is a tool that many use to stay
spiritually awakened. In addition, reading survival books and
survival fiction can help the reader look at preparedness from different
perspectives and learn more about their spiritual foundation through the
characters of the books. Devotional studies have helped many in developing
their spiritual preparedness.
3. Acknowledgement and gratitude are other ways that you can begin
laying a spiritual foundation. I have often started my prayers with how
thankful I am for the family, friends and events that shaped who I am. Even the
bad events played a part in who I am. I then follow the gratitude with further
prayers. After I am done, I feel at peace.
4. Find passages in a book or religious reference and writing it
down for you to turn to later also helps. In my preparedness manual, I
have an entire section of my book that has inspirational quotes and bible
passages that I have printed out or found that has touched me. In addition, I
have all of the church handouts that I have received over the years to turn to.
Preps to buy:
The best way to begin training your mind for mental preparedness
is through knowledge, faith and practice. Go online and purchase some
books to add to your survival library. Some books that I have read and
have found helpful in this area are:
- The Holy Bible
or an equivalent book on religion
- Devotional
books
- A New Earth: Awakening to
Your Life’s Purpose by
Eckhart Tolle
- The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
- Are You Ready for Change?
Preparing for Tribulation in America by Philip Lewis
- Survive!: Essential Skills
and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive by Les
Stroud
- One Second After by William R. Forstchen
- Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
Action Items:
1. Find some time and think about your core beliefs. What do you
believe in? What drives you to be a better person?
2. If you feel open in discussing your belief system, talk with
family members and find out what they believe.
3. Set up a time daily where you can sit and meditate on your
spirit.
4. Begin exploring ways to advance your core beliefs to spiritually
prepare yourself.
5. Practice your spiritual beliefs daily.
6. Talk with a spiritual advisor, pastor, or priest if you reach a
place where you need guidance.
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