I’m Coming to Your House! Yikes...

19

By Kellene Bishop

I have to say, this is my most hated and loathed 5 word sentence.  Anyone who has the temerity to take control of their future though, aka practices self-reliance, has heard these words, or a derivative thereof way too many times.

“When things get rough, I’m coming to YOUR house!”
“Why do I need to prepare for anything? I’ll just go to my parents house?”
“If the world comes to an end, I’ll just get my gun and find me a Mormon.”

I gotta tell you, I even hate hearing these things when they are said in jest. To me they are just as grating on me as when someone takes the Lord’s name in vain or drops the F-bomb. It’s NOT okay for a person to make death threats, bully or harass another human being—even if they are smiling while they do it, and not O.K. for a person to shirk their own responsibility to take care of themselves and their family.

ACCIDENTS happen, yes. But “planning” on coming to my house INSTEAD of working just as hard as I have to be ready for life’s challenges doesn’t just happen. It’s premeditated CRIME, and what most people don’t realize is that it’s a crime of the worst offense—murder. Homicide, manslaughter, and murder all encompass the killing of another human being, but murder with mens rea, aka malicious intent to kill, is the worst of them all. It doesn’t matter if the crime of death was drawn out of the course of 2 minutes or they were slowly poisoned or tortured for 2 years; if a death occurs as the result of  prior intent it is considered murder in the 1st degree. Such charges in the legal system result in the death penalty in most states.

Right about now you might be saying “Wow, Kellene’s taking it a little too far, I think.” At first blush it  may seem a bit extreme or melodramatic, but let’s look at it this way; if we carefully prepare to ensure the safety and well-being of our family members for a set period of time, come what may, and spend work effort, money, and time—of which we have no more every day than does the next person—then the addition of an UNPLANNED for person into that equation can only means one thing—the suffering, and likely death of
one or more of the persons which you have worked so hard to provide for and protect.

Physics comes into play here as we recognize that no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time. In a crisis scenario, every bit of preparation will be critical. The Abundance Mentality, which I ascribe to personally, get replaced by a different type of mentality in such a scenario, regardless of what I think of it. A person can’t live without proper shelter, environmental control, water, and food and no matter how charitable my heart is, nothing can change that. If I haven’t prepared for extra people in my efforts, then the only consequence of you coming to my house amidst a crisis and helping yourself to what I’ve put up in anticipation thereof is the suffering and potentially death of those I love.

Let’s not even look at the finite rations that I might have. Let’s talk about the first two Principles of Preparedness, Spiritual and Mental Preparedness. If you haven’t been preparing spiritually and mentally in terms of strengthening your belief system, skill-set, knowledge, and your mental fortitude, then you are not merely another mouth to feed;  you are a serious liability to the safety of me and my loved ones.

EVERYONE around us is either an asset or a liability. If I’ve taken the time to train, educate, drill, and practice lifesaving skills and you require extra attention, time, or other consideration, then you, who have invited yourself to my sanctuary, are compromising the safety and well-being of those who HAVE prepared. One may whine about “where’s the fairness in you having so much and I have none?” But I say where is the fairness in me paying the price for peace and self-reliance and allowing your lack of doing so compromise or even destroy all that I’ve done?!

Contrary to what so many people practice, preparedness has very little to do with food storage. ( Oh how I wish that more folks would remember that.) Prepping is a journey, not a destination; so we’ll never be “done” but we will have a logistical, finite amount of provisions, but we simply cannot afford to share provisions with persons who haven’t prepared in all of the other Principles of Preparedness because a dearth in any of those areas can kill us just as easily as hypothermia.  So when you are making the choice that you will or will not help someone who’s refused to help themselves PLEASE remember that your risk assessment can’t just take into consideration the tangible goods. So when a person says “I’m coming to your house” they are already showing their woefully inadequate lack of more important Principles of Preparedness.

Also, keep in mind that some may not have the luxury of fully exercising the wisdom of being prepared in a balanced manner. Some may be barely getting through a trial with what they’ve been able to do in advance of a coming crisis. The fact of the matter is, while a person MAY materially speaking be O.K. coming into my home, the research and statistics reveal that over 80% of those who consider themselves “Preppers” are not suitably prepared materially speaking for a long-term crisis (3 months or more) for their own family in the face of a financial collapse, drought, famine, regional or nation quarantine, and a litany of other potential disasters–let alone taking in others and caring for them as well. So, a person who has the laissez-fare attitude of inviting themselves into someone else’s  supplies is actually more likely to cause extreme suffering and/or death to such a family than not!

Possible Responses to “I’m Coming to Your House”:

“O.K. That will be $53,872, please, payable in gold or silver, a year in advance.”

“Let’s say we’re both Type 1 Diabetes sufferers. I have stored a month’s supply of medications and you’ve stored none. Is it all right for you to invite yourself to rob me of my quality of life when you’ve not done anything to take care of yours?”

 “And will you be dressed as Genghis Khan, the British Soldiers, or Attila the Hun when you do so?

“Actually, I view my sacred stewardship over taking care of my family very seriously. I would hope that you’re only kidding and view that same stewardship to take care of yourself and your loved ones just as seriously. “

“So, let me get this straight. I’ve worked for the last 10 years so that when things go wrong I’m not a burden on you and your family, but it’s OK for you to do nothing and knowingly become burden on me and mine?”

“Great—and I’ll be sure to let you in so long as you know the password.”

“Well, you better come armed and skilled then.”

“So, let’s see if I understand; you’ve shown that you have no regard for your own well-being and safety, Now, why would I want you around my family to expose them to that same kind of dangerous way of thinking?

“And which of my children would you have me kill at my house so that you can shirk your own personal responsibility?”

“Great, and when I retire I’m coming to YOUR retirement fund.”

“Sure, just so long as you surrender your weekly paycheck and any spare time you’ve got now for the next 10 years.”

“When the roads have been torn up due to an earthquake, or when the value of the dollar is useless, or when gas costs $20 a gallon or when you’ve been ordered to stay in your home due to a quarantine, tell me how that plan works for ya?”

“Oh, you mean just like Adolph Hitler helped himself to the wealth and life’s work of the Jews?”

“Is that your idea of a PLAN or a threat?”

“Sure, I need real people to volunteer to test my security system for the uninvited.”

“Fabulous. Admission is an entire year’s supply of bullets, beans, and band-aids per person.”

Now, having said that all this, understand that I do believe that it is WISE to prepare for more than just you and your family. I believe in being charitable. But you and I both know that charity is not possible when taken by force or manipulation. I personally have a hard time just thinking in terms of just us when it comes to being more self-reliant. But like I always say, there are 2 kinds of people that will come to me—those who would ask and those who would take, and there’s only one kind of person that has a chance of leaving my home without seriously limping. But obviously,  we all have to start somewhere. My husband and I started with just our household in mind, and then expanded to his folks, then my sister’s family, and so on and so forth to the point that we’re focused on trying to prepare for 100 of our family members—most of which are children. We do this because we know that even in spite of their own efforts to prepare themselves, something may happen to prevent them from using their preparedness supplies. I always joke that it would be ironic if I’m killed in an earthquake because my 3,000 pounds of wheat crush me. Grant it, that just might happen. A flood may destroy everything. An earthquake may swallow everything. A mandatory quarantine may come at a time when we’re all gathered for a family holiday. I’m to the point now that I have the luxury of preparing for such an event—but that’s the key—it’s a luxury. The best thing that we can do to help others later, is to help them prepare NOW because otherwise, regardless of how much we love, care, and are concerned for others, we will not be able to violate the laws of physics or of justice and do more than we are able to do without compromising the safety, comfort, and life of those who we are eternally responsible to care for. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather tell my Father in Heaven that I had to turn away someone else than tell Him that I failed to take care of my family whom He entrusted me to care for. Neither thought is pleasant, but we’ve got to draw the line in the sand somewhere.

All this being said, while the individuals who will say “I’m coming to your house” are somewhat clueless to the ramifications of such a statement that doesn’t alter what other truths I know. I want to say that I KNOW that we have been and will continue to be helped extensively by the Lord with great abundance so that I can temporally provide for more and more of those around me who might need it. In fact, ever since I started couponing I’ve  come to understand what the scripture means that says

“and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (See Malachi 3: 8-10)

As good as I am about rotating and using my space wisely I’m certainly starting to run out of room to receive all that He’s blessed us with. How it’s  ultimately used is up to Him, sure.  But I also know that no matter how much I prepare, I will never be able to do so enough to make up for the willful lack of preparedness of others and frankly, He’s not asking me to do that either. That’s not how He works. So keeping that in mind, I encourage everyone to do what you can, keep the whole “I’m coming to your house” statement in the proper perspective along with the firm your resolve to do so, and keep on working on what you have the ability to do.