This afternoon while stacking bricks, my mind danced away to more stimulating arenas. I drifted back to an e-mail received shortly after Stan and I moved to rural Ballarat in May. "Suzy", probably well-meaning, publicly stated we had begun too late in our emergency preparations. Being part Irish, my initial mental response was "and what business was it of hers" followed by "she has no clue what we've already accomplished!" If we were 'no-hopers' at this stage, what about the folks just now waking up? How would they feel hearing this? I became irritated all over again at the Suzies of the world committing a big no-no -- taking away people's hope.

Many people have written letters of thanks for the information posted or for Stan's Shaker Maps or the newsletters, etc. What saddens us are letters from people who are without funds to provide storables or hampered by ill health or have spouses who refuse to acknowledge these dangerous times or people frustrated with zero storage space. How do we help those folks?

The answer isn't easy unless we turn to God for help. We are looking at many potential disasters dead in the eye; worsening El Ninos and even more erratic weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, volcanoes, biowarfare, terrorism, building Middle East tensions, hurricane season (which is expected to be "interesting" for the next decade), heatwaves, impending stock market adjustment/crash, asteroid/meteor impact, the numbering, New World Order, Armageddon, new and mutating viruses, civil unrest, martial law, corrupt governments. IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE A SANE PERSON LOSE IT!

With odds stacked against us, humanity isn't going to come out a winner unless he is a Believer. When overwhelming thoughts of these challenges get the upper hand, it's because I've slipped back into the driver's seat and temporarily relegated God to passenger status. New Age folks might term it as "not living in the light" or "not living in love". Whatever the point of reference, we are momentarily not living in the manner we should, allowing fear to take over.

Here are two experiences excerpted from "Gail's Story - Visions of the Latter Days" by Allyn L. Rigby, August 21, 1996 illustrating the power of Faith and God's guidance:

"She (Gail) has shared with me (Allyn) three separate scenarios shown to her that illustrate the ways in which the Lord will save those who turn to Him. She was in her home and saw about 6 armed troops enter her home searching for food, weapons, ammo, etc. She also knew they had orders to arrest her and that if she were taken she would be killed. She prayed in her mind, "Lord, if it be thy will that I am not to die at this time, please save me and tell me what to do." The spirit told her to tell the men not to touch her or they would die. They laughed and one man grabbed her. Immediately he fell dead at her feet. W th a few minutes the others had convinced themselves that the first man's death was just a coincidence, that he had a bad heart or something. A second man started to go for her at which time she said "Please don't touch me or you'll die." He ignored the warning, grabbed her and immediately fell dead at her feet. The remaining men got out of there as fast as they could.

In another scenario she saw the wild animals coming down out of the mountains, killing and eating people. Among these animals she saw groups of mountain lions, four to six to a group. (Traveling in groups is not normal behavior for these solitary and timid cats.) One of these groups of cougars approached her. Not knowing what to do, she thought, "Well praying worked before", so once again she prayed, "Lord, if it be thy will that I'm not to die at this time please save me and tell me what to do." The spirit said, "Reach out your hand and pet the front mountain lion on the head." She thought to herself, "Sure I will!", but she did it anyway. The animal immediately began rubbing against her like a house cat, rolling over, etc. and the other animals did the same. The people in the area who saw this became terrified of Gail and fled. Gail says that this is why the scriptures say that people are afraid to go up against Zion for God is with them. Then the Spirit said, "I have showed you the great power that I am willing to exercise on behalf of one person, think what I will do for a group of people who come to me."

With the amount of potential chaos facing us, it is unreasonably optimistic to think we are all going to escape unscathed. Conversely, NONE of us know when these events will strike nor with what force nor where. In light of this timetable question, it is NEVER too late to begin. Do what you can with the means at your disposal. Have Faith in God to provide the rest and do what you can to wake those around you.

A friend who is in civil emergency preparedness once stated. "The worst threat I see in any disaster is the willingness of those who did not prepare ahead to harm those who did, and the unwillingness of those who prepared to assist those who didn't. I want to use my skills and planning to benefit not only my family, but my community. I want to know others who feel the same way." Well, David, so do I and wish we were neighbors!