For such a time as this. Do the next thing.

It seems like everyone and every place is in chaos at the moment.  For many of us 2024 was a rolling crisis,  every time you picked yourself up and brushed yourself down a boulder would come at you from nowhere and smack you.   So 2025... how's that going?  

This subject is just too big to manage.  I bit off more than I can chew.  So I am going to come at it in little bits that might be helpful.  Obviously if you have just lost everything,  are in shock or at someones bedside in hospital you might not be able to use any thing I can suggest.  But I hope collectively we can share some things that do help in some way MUCH of the time.

"For such a time as this" comes from Queen Esther.  It is good to read and study.  I think of it often as inspiration.   The way I think of it is there are times that require us to step up,  do extraordinary and brave things,  speak up and stand up.  There are times we can do things that we never ever thought possible. 

Sometimes in a crisis something kicks in where we do what we have to do and we do it well.  Then after the event we fall in a heap!  That is completely natural.   Your current place in a crisis might be recovery in which case I can say I found sleep to be one of the most healing things.  Several months after Andy died I suddenly was able to sleep.  Properly sleep.  I slept most of several days and nights.  I felt so much better after those days.  So if you can,  and that is what you need,  then sometimes the most constructive thing you can do is to sleep.  Do not feel guilty.  Your body and mind need it.  You are important. Your survival is important.

Whether you live under the threat of war or other dangers,  worry,  stress...  whatever crisis,  some things are helper and even more so if you are caring for children. (of any age)   Because of good management on our parents parts many of us lived through a crisis as kids that we didn't ever know about!   Parents have wonderful ways!   I surely know my Mum and her siblings (and my Nana and siblings) all lived through some shocking things but the Nans kept food on the table.   Kids don't know how much a meal costs.  If it's pancakes for dinner they don't care, they probably think it's great!   

I cannot skip faith.   Nor family support and friends.  They all were very strong those ways.  And these are areas we can build and strengthen even if it is with adopted family.   Some support I did not know I needed and thought I could manage without....  I found out I was wrong.   I needed a Priest.  I needed a church family.   As much as I have a beautiful family and friends (and I count you all) I still needed to add some heavy artillery to my war chest.   I needed the whole armour of God.   There is a lot of help here.  Before I found my church  I found online a website where you could talk to a priest.  By God's grace three times I exchanged emails with a priest in the USA.   He helped me so much and later I wrote back and thanked him and their group that offer this Ministry.  

I am still adding to my support system.  If you have not taken my 30 days to better preparedness course... please do!  One day I will add to it with the things I have learned since!

So here are some of my crisis survival tips:

In the first place be a prepared household.   Everyone at some time will experience the inability to get to the shops/buy food and necessities.  It could be sickness,  power outages, storms, job loss, pandemic... who knows and it doesn't matter.   A lot of a crisis might be prevented if you are ready for living off what you have and I include water, pet needs, medicines...   in the simplest terms imagine you can go nowhere for three weeks and have no deliveries.   What would you run out of?   That is where you start.  

To your preparedness always keep some easy meals frozen or in the pantry.  Meals you do not have to think about... thaw and heat.  So many times a meal is a saviour in a crisis.  Also the ability to deliver a meal to someone in their crisis...  

Keep your normal routine as much as possible.  Children are enormously comforted by their regular bed time, story time, blankie and routines.  This is very reassuring.  Every aspect that you can keep as normal as possible will lessen the impact.   And as it turns out that is also true for adults.  This is truly a case of do the next thing.  When you don't know what to do,  just do the next thing.  Even if that is a cup of tea,  a shower, clean your teeth,  go to bed.  

When Andy died my Mum arrived with a bag of sandwiches she made up for me with the idea I could put them in the sandwich press and eat.  This was very helpful.  Nope, I was not in the mind to be cooking.  But I did grill them and eat for dinner a toastie many nights.  

Nana always said an ounce of help is better than a pound of sympathy.  This is true.  A meal you don't have to cook, an errand you don't have to run... shopping you don't have to do.  It might just be someone comes and waterers your garden!   My niece came.  She just asked me "what can I do to help?"   I love that girl.  I think I asked her to give the animals water and feed .... I know it involved goats but I actually can't remember some things.  But I will never forget she just came and asked how to help and she did what was needed.

If you can't remember what to do or what needs to be done - write it down.  Eat and drink!  Sit down with a cup of tea or whatever is your thing and allow yourself a quiet time to consider what to do next.  In some cases I have not known what to do at all.   But I had someone to ask.  In my instance I had the phone number of the funeral home.  The police.  The coroners office.  I called each one over a few days and each one took me through step by step.  All were marvellous.

In other instances... it might be that you need to have the radio on and listen to the instructions ie an emergency in your area.  It might be 000 or 911 and they will tell you what to do.   If you don't know what to do ask.

If you are lucky enough to being offered help but it's help you don't need...   see if you can redirect it and say thank you so much,  I am ok in that area but I could really use help to .... insert...  something else! 

In many kinds of crisis even if it is not your own health going to your family doctor is a good idea.  HAVING a family doctor that knows you is another support system.   You can take your problem there and say this is what has happened and I am not coping/what's should I do?/how will I get through this?   Most doctors can point you to support services and things you did not know existed!  

At one time it was our family chemist/pharmacist that pulled me aside and advised me in a crisis.   He is part of my support system too. 

Do not live alone.   This is a bold one.   At 5 pm the dogs were waiting at the door to play frisbee whether I wanted to or not.  The chooks, goats, birds, dogs.. they all needed feeding and attention and I had to get up and do these tasks.  All of them lifted me up.  Animals are very intuitive.  The dogs acted differently and sat with me.  Even one tiny small pet will do the trick.  You have company.  You have to attend to them.  If you don't they will nag you.  They are in my opinion like angels in disguise.  If you are lonely and you can possibly take on a homeless animal that is appropriate for your space etc.  you are doing good in the world, you have a new purpose  and you will be paid back in so much love.  

I have said lots of times cows are good listeners. 

I do realise this is of not help to most people! 

If there is a support group for you,  try it.  From cheap and easy dinners to living with chronic illness there are groups online and possibly in your area too.  In some instances we have to learn a whole heap of new skills to get by or adapt.   This is more fun with company.  There are usually older and wiser women than ourselves that we can turn to for solid advice.  To get anywhere we need to have a teachable heart.  With a teachable heart we can learn just about anything! 

Can any good come from adversity?  Yes.  It is a hard way to learn (that I don't really recommend) but as we don't get that choice we might learn a lot.  We can offer others better understanding when we have been through something ourselves.   Our priorities might change to be more important things than before.  I can say now a year after Andy died I am closer to God and a I a more acute sense of what is fluff and what is eternal.

The fire we went through taught me a lot too.  A lot of effort goes into clearing around the house and getting ready for fire season.  Each experience from Covid and empty shelves,  limits ...to a state wide blackout... taught us so much.   But they are only good teachers if we get on with amending our plans and supplies so that next time we will do better.   Like the robbery...  the shake up is enough to make a list of extra security things to do.   It is an opportunity to take that might save us down the track.  Let's say some things are motivational events!  

Years ago I went through a divorce that left me very traumatised and depressed.  I was so depressed I barely got out of bed for a year.   I lived in a dark fog.   It is hard to say or think about. 

More recently I found two verses that changed my thinking on that time.  One of my main regrets was that I lost and wasted so much time that I could not get back.  But I was wrong! 

Joel 2:25 says "God will give you back all the years you lost.  Be patient, be ready and trust his plan."

Lost time can most certainly be redeemed. I saw that with Andy.  He lost a period of time but then he had three years where he more than made it up through faith.  

If we are still here God has a plan for us.  I know my mission and this helps me enormously!  I am not defeated (yet, haha) and the words "surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."    That sums it up.   While I am still here I will try to be diligent and look after my household and family. 

We do not know what someone may be going through.   I hope and pray for everyone reading.  I know everyone has a battle.   Therefore encourage one another and lift each other up!

If you have suggestions on things that helped you through a hard time please share them.   You might be going through something right now.   There will be others who might have words to help you.  

At the worst my motto was "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  xxx