I slumped into the nearest chair I could spot as I staggered into the Alaska Medical Station. The pressure bandage was not working and my now stump-of-an-arm was dripping very heavily with blood. I was in shock from the sheer trauma and massive blood loss from the accident and had made it to the emergency medical station none too soon. Moments later I vaguely remember falling towards the floor as I began to pass out and hearing the medical personnel holler for a gurney. I remember feeling disoriented as I faded in and out of consciousness as they transported me somewhere very quickly, I couldn’t really say where. There was the anesthesiologist who tried to ask me my name – desperately wanting to know something – anything – about his patient. Maybe my birthday, or if I had any family? I could hear him and get my eyes open for a moment but couldn’t find the words to answer. I was alone and had no one to speak for me. In my brief periods of consciousness I remember the cold ultrasound gel on my belly as they scanned me for internal injuries, the sharp poke in my foot as a nurse tried valiantly to start an IV in my shriveled veins, a doctor trying to get a tourniquet around my arm to control the bleeding, and someone muttering something about hoping they wouldn’t fail. 
​

It was just a drill, but it was very real. You could hear it in the strained voices of the rescuers and cries of the other volunteer trauma victims.  You could see it in the field equipment and neatly organized bins of supplies managed by the National Guard and the disaster relief branch of Samaritan’s Purse. It was designed to be very real as it was part of a state and nation wide “Capstone” disaster preparedness exercise simulating response to a 9.2 magnitude earthquake similar to the quake that rocked south-central Alaska in 1964. It was a test of how well the state could respond to such a massive catastrophe. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where it became quite evident that disaster preparedness was severely lacking across the country, individual states and our nation have worked very hard to become disaster ready – both to mitigate hazards and to promote the safety and wellbeing of their residents in disaster situations. As a whole, government agencies are much better prepared today than they were 10 years ago, but disaster preparedness must not stop with state agencies. We as individuals must do our part! 
Suppose you live in the Midwest and without warning a category five tornado rips through your community. Usually you and your family would grab your flashlights, a blanket or two, and evacuate to your basement to wait out the storm. You are used to the drill and have made the dash to the safety of your basement perhaps a hundred times in your life. But today is different. You are not at home. You have been out teaching piano lessons to other homeschooled students in your community. Your dad is at his office in town 20 miles from home and your older brother has been doing fieldwork for the rancher 7 miles down the road in the other direction. Your mother is at home with the little ones. 

The disaster doesn’t end with just one tornado. The big funnel cloud has triggered numerous smaller tornadoes in the nearby area. The tornadoes are then quickly followed by thunderstorms and flash flooding. The power is out and the phone lines down.  You are stranded on the road due to impassible floodwaters. You dad can’t get home because the roads have been closed due to downed trees and power lines. You try to call your mom on your cell phone, then your dad, then your neighbor. You can’t get through to anyone – all cell lines are busy. You don’t know if your family is safe and there is no way to get in touch with anyone. You don’t even know if you still have a home.  

Your brother has been severely injured and is being air lifted to the trauma center two hours away. He has severe allergies and a complicated medical history it is important for the emergency physicians to know about but at this point your family doesn’t even know yet that he has been injured. Your mother and little siblings are safe but your home is destroyed and your little sibling’s inhaler she relies on for controlling her asthma is gone with no backup. You have still had no contact with your mom, dad, or brother and do not know where they might be as the mayhem of such a disaster ensues. 

How is your family going to find each other? How are you going to communicate to the doctors the essential information they need to know about your brother? How are you going to manage until state and federal help arrives? Where are you going to shelter and how are you going feed the family? What if help is delayed in getting to your community?
If you don’t live in a tornado prone area, what if a major earthquake shook your home, or your community was evacuated for a wildfire or hurricane? This scenario is not a scare tactic; it is designed to help you think about how ready you are. Perhaps the scenario sounds far fetched, but it really is not - major natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency and we regularly see their destruction. Perhaps you think your area is not at risk for such natural disasters. Sadly no place, and no one, is immune. And so it is wise to ask yourself,  “Am I/is my family disaster ready?” Scripture tells us not to fret about our future (Matthew 6:25, Philippians 4:6), so do not worry or prepare for such disasters in fear. Instead, be prudent and ready (Genesis 41, Proverbs 30:25, Proverbs 31:21).  

Perhaps being prepared for something so colossal and unpredictable seems overwhelming. Maybe you don’t know where to begin. That is okay. To make your journey to disaster preparedness as easy as possible, the process can be broken down into five basic steps: know your local hazards, create a response plan, build an emergency supply kit, prepare your home, and put your action plan into practice. 



Know Your Local Hazards
Begin the road to emergency and disaster preparedness by considering the potential hazards in your area: house fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, flooding/tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and wind/snow/ice storms. Consider the type of damage each can cause, how each would need to be responded to (evacuation or shelter-in-place), and what you can do to mitigate the risks associated with these disasters and minimize damage. Although this article focuses on being prepared to respond to natural disasters, know the potential man-made disasters that you could be exposed to (e.g., chemical or radiation contamination from nearby energy and processing plants) and research what you need to do to be prepared for such events. Make a list of these hazards and keep each in mind as you work through the remaining steps to become disaster-ready.



Create a Response Plan
Communication during and in the aftermath of a major emergency can be challenging. In the midst of the disaster it may be hard to remember even basic information such as your home phone number or address. During major disasters it may also be difficult to impossible to make phone calls as phone lines may be down and cell lines overwhelmed by the volume of calls as everyone it trying to find their loved-ones and make sure they are safe. If you are stranded away from your home and can’t contact your family, it may be very difficult to find them. Having a response plan will help your family be able to respond to a disaster in an organized and calm manner and will help minimize stress.  

•  Compile all your immediate family member’s contact and other important information into one place. This should include home address and home phone number, birthdates, individual phone numbers (cell and main work/school numbers) and addresses (work and school, and residence if not living at home). Consider also including each family member’s food and medication allergies, current medications/supplements, and medical/surgical history.
•  Also compile phone numbers and addresses for your extended family or other individuals that would need to be notified in case of an emergency.  
• Choose someone to be your family’s outside Point of Contact. This can be a relative or family friend but it is important they are able to remain calm in a stressful situation, keep track of details, communicate clearly, and live a distance from your area. During a disaster when local phone connections are overwhelmed, it can be easier to make long-distance calls. As such, if you are not able to communicate with your family directly, information can be relayed back and forth through your Point of Contact. Your point of contact can also be responsible for communicating information about your situation as necessary to your extended family. Also, keep in mind that in a disaster situation where cell phone lines will likely be overwhelmed, texting takes up less bandwidth, meaning more text messages can be transmitted at once than phone calls. By texting when possible instead of calling, you will help limit cell line congestion so more people can communicate with each other. If bandwidth is not available at the time you initially try to send your message, your text messages will go through when bandwidth becomes available.
• Designate family meeting locations should you need to evacuate your home or cannot get back home. You should have three designated meeting locations: outside your home, outside your neighborhood, and an alternate meeting location.  
• In the event of an evacuation, the Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or other agency will provide shelters. For your own wellbeing and comfort, however, you may wish to pre-plan a shelter/evacuation location should you need to leave your home. Consider friends or family living far enough from your home that they are unlikely to be affected by the same disaster and yet close enough to reach them easily. Also consider ease and safety when traveling to your evacuation location (potential for road damage, road obstacles, traffic flow, etc.).  Note your chosen evacuation location’s address, phone number, and contact person. 
•  Pets are not allowed in evacuation shelters. If you have pets, create a plan for making sure they can be cared for. 
• Compile contact information for your utility companies for emergencies requiring utility shut-off, repairs, or to have utilities turned back on again. 
•  Organize all of this information into a neat document, update it regularly, and keep it readily accessible. Consider keeping a copy on your refrigerator, in your emergency supply kit, in each of your vehicles, and giving a copy to each family member who works or goes to school outside the home. Be sure you also give a copy of the document to your Point of Contact! Remember this is your “brain” during a disaster situation. It should be clear and concise and outline all important information you will need to know or emergency responders might need to know to help you. 

Build an Emergency Supply Kit    
    After you have you disaster response plan in place, it is time to build your emergency supply kit! This kit will contain everything you would need to survive and cope with a disaster – whether sheltering in place or evacuating – for a minimum of three days. 

• Food. Your supply kit should contain enough food to feed your family for a minimum of three days (a minimum of seven days if you live in Alaska). As you choose what types of food you want to include in your kit, consider shelf life, ease of preparation, and ease of transport. Food preparation may be difficult in an emergency without power and with potentially compromised sanitation. With this in mind, the less effort that has to go in to food preparation, the better. If you have a large family and need to evacuate, it may be difficult to transport a large quantity of canned goods. You may consider purchasing prepackaged freeze-dried emergency food kits. Freeze dried foods generally have a very long shelf life (10-20 years) making this a convenient option as your food supply with not need to be rotated out and replaced very often. Keep your food options as healthy as possible and include snack items that are calorie and nutrient dense. Include some comfort foods as well! 
• Water. Your emergency supply kit should contain one gallon of water per person times three days (again, times seven days if you live in Alaska). Water should be stored in food-grade jugs with two drops of non-scented chlorine bleach per gallon of water. This small amount of bleach is designed to keep your water from growing things while it is stored! Greater quantities of bleach are required to treat contaminated water! Always follow the local authorities’ instructions for treating water after a disaster. Water should not be stored in empty milk or juice jugs as they leave residue in the jugs that cannot be adequately cleaned off for water storage. If you choose to use freeze-dried foods in your supply kit, you will need additional water for rehydrating your meals. Your water supply should be replaced twice a year. 
• Cooking. Compile the basics you will need for food preparation: cooking pots, cooking utensils (including a can opener!), a bowl or plate and cup for each family member and eating utensils.  To keep it simple, only use bowls and sporks for eating. Consider including a camp stove in your kit. If you do include a camp stove, make sure you have adequate stove fuel, matches/lighter, and a stove repair kit. Only use a camp stove outside in a well-ventilated area! 
• Sanitation: Sanitation is incredibly important during a disaster as disease can spread quickly without good water, regular plumbing, and waste management services. Include a variety of sizes and generous supply of garbage bags, wet wipes, hand-sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, unscented chlorine bleach, tissue, toilet paper, and feminine hygiene supplies. 
• First Aid Kit: You can purchase a pre-assembled first-aid kit or you can build you own. If you build you own, consider the types of injuries you may encounter and then pack the items you would need to treat those injuries. Include over the counter medications including pain relievers, decongestants, antihistamines (Benadryl), antibiotic ointment, laxatives, antidiarrheals, antacids, and any vitamins, herbs, or essential oils your family uses to treat common colds and illnesses. If any of your family regularly takes a prescription medication, ask your doctor for an extra week or two supply to keep in your emergency supply kit. If this is not possible, make a copy of your prescriptions and keep them in your first aid kit. This will make it easier to obtain a replacement if you cannot gain access to your regular medications at home. Also include a pocket first aid or medical reference guide. 
• Toiletries: Add basic toiletries in your emergency supply kit: toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, soap, sunscreen, etc. If your family wears contact lenses or has special dental devices, be sure to include the necessary supplies for these items as well. 
• Clothing, Warmth, and Shelter: Include tarps and space-blankets in your supply kit as well as matches or lighters. Pack a set of clothes for each family member. Consider the temperatures for your region and possible circumstances you may be living in when you make your clothing selections. To keep expenses down, use clothes that are rarely worn or purchase clothing at the thrift store. Also include blankets, or if you have sleeping bags, store these with your emergency supply kit for easy access. If you live in a cool climate, consider adding instant hand and toe warmers to your kit. These can be purchased at sporting good stores, Costco, or online. 
• Lighting and Communication: Make sure you have adequate lighting. This can be candles (with matches) or flashlights/headlamps or both. Be sure to pack extra batteries if you are using flashlights. Each emergency kit should also contain a portable radio (again with extra batteries). This is important for keeping updated on inclement weather reports and receiving instructions on evacuation, emergency shelters, etc. If your family has an extra cell phone, include this in your kit. Store the phone with the battery removed (and an extra charger if available). All cell phones, regardless of whether or not they have a working phone number or are on a working phone plan, are designed to be able to call 911. This can be used as a backup communication method as necessary. 
• Important Documents: Make copies of important family documents (ID cards, passports, birth certificates, marriage license, life insurance policies, home mortgage documents, etc.). Be sure you also have an emergency supply of cash in small sized bills. If you need to make any purchases and the power is out you will not be able to use a debit or credit card and change may not be available. Also consider including a CD or thumb drive with special family photos. Keep all of this along with a copy of your disaster response plan in a sealed, waterproof bag in your supply kit.  You may also choose to send copies of your important documents to your emergency Point of Contact.
• Supplies for Babies and the Ill, Disabled, or Elderly: If you have a baby in the family, be sure to include items such as diapers, extra clothing and blankets, canned baby food, formula, and bottles. (Formula and bottles should be included even if the baby is usually breastfed in case the mother is injured or otherwise becomes unable to breastfeed.) For those who are ill, disabled, or elderly, ensure you have a thorough written medical history and medication list with medication dosages (keep this with your other important documents). Include extra prescription medications if possible, as well as other necessary equipment and supplies.
• Pets: If you have pets, consider the items you would need to care for them and include them in your emergency supply kit. Keep copies of pet licenses and vaccination records with your important documents. 
• Safety and Clean-Up Equipment: In the aftermath of a disaster you will want to have the safety equipment and the supplies you may need to start the cleanup process. Items you may wish to include: high-visibility vests, safety glasses, work gloves, and heavy-duty multi-purpose cleaner. Every kit should include N-95 dust masks. (Vests, masks, glasses, and gloves can all be found in small sizes for children too!)
• Miscellaneous (But Important!) Items: Be sure to add the following items to your kit as well: rope, duct tape, super glue, multi-tool, pocket knife, local map, whistle, scissors, safety pins, bandanas (can be used for many things), small notebook, writing utensils, sewing kit, small games, and a Bible.  

    As you work on building your emergency supply kit, there are a couple things to keep in mind. First, you do not have to purchase all new items for your kit. To keep the cost down, collect up all the extra items you already have around your house that are not commonly used. Then make a list of the other items you will need and purchase slowly as you are able. Budget a certain amount per month or choose to add a certain number of items to your kit each month. Wait for items to go on sale!  
    Consider how you will store your emergency supplies. This may be in a couple large plastic storage bins, 5-gallon buckets, large duffle bags or a combination of these. Plastic bins or buckets may be best for keeping supplies clean and dry but may not be practical for storing clothing, blankets, or sleeping bags. Labeling the outside of your storage bins with each bin’s contents will make finding and keeping your supplies organized a lot easier! Store your kit in a safe and easily accessible location (such as in the basement if you live in tornado country). 

    After your supply kit is built, you will need to regularly (once every 6-12 months) rotate out food and other items with expiration dates (including medications) and replace with new. As you pull “old” items from you emergency kit, add them to your regular household supply so they can be put to use and not wasted before their expiration dates. Also be sure to update clothing sizes for your growing family members! To help keep your emergency supply kit and response plan current, update it on a regular schedule such as with the start of each new year or when you do your spring cleaning. Assign the task to one person or make it a family event.



Prepare Your Home
    Making sure your home is disaster ready is just as important as your response plan and emergency supply kit. Home preparedness will help you avoid undue hazards and alert you early to dangerous situations. 

• Install smoke detectors in your home. Smoke detectors should be installed on each floor of the house, inside every bedroom, and in the hall outside of bedrooms. Smoke detectors should be tested monthly and batteries should be replaced yearly.
• If you live in a multi-story home, consider purchasing a fire escape ladder. These can be purchased at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart, or a number of online stores for between $40-$70 depending on the length of the ladder (2-story or 3-story). They are compact and easily fit under a bed. 
• If you live on property with woods and brush, ensure dead trees, fallen sticks, and dry brush is kept cleared away from your house.  This will help prevent wildfires from getting too close to your home. 
• Install carbon monoxide alarms in your home. These should be present on every floor of the home, with one located near the bedrooms. 
• Secure your water heater and furnace to the wall. Also secure other top-heavy items to the wall such as bookshelves and china hutches. This will help minimize hazards from falling objects during earthquakes. (This is a good idea even if you do not live in earthquake prone areas.) Small breakable nick-knacks can be secured to shelves using museum putty or tacky.  
• Keep harmful chemicals (weed killers, solvents, pesticides, and heavy duty cleaners) in a latched cupboard or shelf with a safety gate to prevent chemicals from falling, breaking open, and creating hazardous spills.  
• Learn how to shut off gas and water to your home from the main shut-off valves. Make sure you have the appropriate tools for the task and keep them easily accessible where everyone knows where to find them. You may consider posting shut-off instructions with diagrams near the shut-off valves. Remember that once gas has been shut off, it should only be turned back on by your gas company! 
• Make an inventory of your household belongings. As long and tedious as this may seem, if you should ever lose your home to a house fire or natural disaster, this inventory will be invaluable in helping with the insurance recovery process. Keep a copy with your other important documents in your emergency supply kit and send a copy to your emergency Point of Contact. 

Practice, Practice, Practice!
    A plan is great but drills and practice are what will really demonstrate if you are ready for a disaster. Practice will show where there are deficits in the plan and give you a chance to adjust it as necessary. Practice will also help make responding to a disaster according to the plan second nature. The more real-like the drills and practice, the better response you will be able to have to a real emergency situation. You can have fun with the practice and make it engaging for the younger children in your family. Here are just a couple of ideas.
   
Start with a fire drill. Teach young children how to check for heat or smoke before opening a door. Find the nearest outside exit and discuss what you would do if that exit were blocked. Call out a fire drill sometime during the day and practice meeting at your designated meeting location outside your home. When everyone is comfortable with that (particularly the younger children), set off your fire alarms for the drill. This will give everyone an opportunity to become comfortable with the noise of the alarm and practice remaining calm and thinking carefully under the pressure of a more real-like situation. You may even block off a common house exit to practice finding other ways out. Finally, consider a very late night or very early morning drill when most people will be in bed and asleep. Again, this will give everyone an opportunity to practice remaining calm and following procedures when they may feel disoriented. If you have a multi-story home and have a fire-escape ladder, consider practicing with it (with adult permission and supervision only!) Always be sure to debrief after each drill to see where there is room for improvement and to make sure everyone is comfortable and not scarred. You may consider holding similar drills for tornadoes and earthquakes. After everyone is comfortable with the drills, keep up your skills with periodic practice (1-2 times a year). 
   
After mastering small-sale fire, earthquake, or tornado drills, progress to having a whole family, full-scale disaster drill. Start by reviewing your disaster response plan and meeting locations with the family to be sure everyone is familiar with the process. Create your disaster scenario and have fun with it! Make it as real as possible and complex to create a challenge. Choose a date for the drill and make sure your Point of Contact is available to participate as well, as it is just as important for them to know the procedures as it is for your family. To add to the life-likeness of the exercise, give your family a general time period for the drill (within a week or two) rather than the specific date. A day where everyone will be spread out in different places will be best as it will require good use of your disaster communication plan and meeting locations. Consider assigning one or two individuals in your family to roles of being injured or otherwise unable to communicate with the rest of the family. (Again, only share these special assignments with the specific individuals with those roles to make the drill as realistic as possible.) Determine how you will announce the start of the drill (texting might work best) describing the scenario and see how it goes! Be sure to debrief afterwards evaluating what worked, what didn’t work, and how it might be improved. Also discuss people’s feelings and emotions about the drill and a potential disaster situation. Remember, drills are not designed to create fear but to help make the unknown less scary and to empower you to respond wisely. Consider having annual drills to keep everyone familiar with the response plan and to give you an opportunity to adjust the plan as necessary as your family grows and dynamics change. 


Additional Resources and Emergency Training

Additional helpful information and resources on disaster preparedness can be obtained from the following agencies:

• American Red Cross 
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Your state’s Department of Health or Office of Emergency Management

To help you become more prepared for managing medical emergencies in a disaster situation or for every-day preparedness, consider taking a first aid or basic life support class. 

• Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED training is available from the American Red Cross. Contact your local Red Cross division to find a schedule of available classes. 
• The Wilderness Medicine Training Center offers basic and advanced first aid classes for the wilderness setting (or anywhere you may not have easy access to emergency services – such as a disaster situation). For those interested in more in-depth training you may consider taking a Wilderness First Responder course, also available through the Wilderness Medicine Training Center. They may be contacted at: (509) 996-2502. (I have taken training through this agency a few times and have been very happy with the company and training. Please be advised, however, that many of their class attendees come from somewhat rough working environments.) 
• If you enjoy the basic or advanced first aid classes and are looking to further expand your knowledge and to challenge yourself, consider taking an EMT class! This will give you an even greater medical knowledge and will also train you in disaster management skills and mass casualty response. 

Although becoming disaster ready may take a great investment of time, energy, and resources, this preparedness will help to protect you and your family and enable you to be of greater help to others when disaster strikes. Remember that it is a process; it does not have to happen overnight, or even within a week or month. If you get discouraged in the process, remind yourself why you are going to so much effort – you want to be prudent and ready! Consider finding someone to keep you accountable for getting it done! Do what you can now and continue working on it little by little until you have a solid disaster response plan, a well stocked emergency kit, and have put your action plan into practice. Then don’t stop there. Share what you have learned with your friends and family and help them become disaster ready also. A truly disaster ready state or nation must start with individual and family preparedness!  


*The contents of this article is written following disaster preparedness guidelines published by the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Fire Protection Association, and the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 

by Tiffany S.
from Virtuous Daughters, April/May 2017~Volume 17, Number 1

Dear Sisters,
…One of my prayers for this year was that I would enjoy sweet fellowship with the Lord in His Word. One way I hoped to do that was by reading through the Bible chronologically....my sweet brother surprised me with a chronological Bible as a New Year’s gift! It has been such an exciting journey as I have learned many beautiful lessons and truly enjoyed spending time with the Lord. A few things He has shown me thus far....

Oh, come and sing unto the Lord,
The greatness of His love proclaim--
Lift up your voice in joyful song,
And bless His worthy, holy name.


Oh, let it not lip-service be
But true from every heart--
A prayer of thanks to God in love,
Then He shall never depart.


Give honor to His holy name,
In thankfulness His works declare--
His love so deep, so wonderful,
Oh, tell to Him in song and prayer.


For He hath done great wondrous things,
For every Christian here on earth,
And it must merit all our praise,
Now let us sing His worth.


For He’s our Shepherd, strong and true,
He leads beside still waters clear,
Where lush green pastures grow,

​He nourishes His lambs so dear.


His goodness is so marvelous,
His mercies, they are ever new--
They ever, ever shall endure,
And so His truth shall too!


Oh, praise Him for He’s worthy,
Lift your joyful voice in song,
And from the depths of hearts so grateful,
Praise Him for His love so strong.

In a day and age when skinny jeans, fair-trade vanilla soy lattes, and iPhones are commonplace, it may seem like the idea of honoring your parents is archaic. However, as Christians, we understand that the Scriptures are timeless. They were written for a people, both then and now, with an aptitude to concoct all sorts of sin and rebellion in their hearts. I find it comforting to know that the roads we travel are well worn, and that the very malady that strains our familial relationships, relies on Scripture for its cure.

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)
 
True words indeed! The shattered remains of once-beautiful hopes...the memories of things past...the crushing grief of an arrow that pierced our tenderest and dearest desire (Lamentations 3:12). The path seems so painful and narrow that we can barely breath (Lamentations 3:7). Will the pain of this dark night ever pass? 

“Take my love, dear Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.”

​I have sung those lines time and time again. The words are beautiful, and I long for them to be more than just a sentiment; my prayer is that they would ring true in my life. In this article, I would like to share a few thoughts regarding keeping Christ as our “First Love” (see Revelation 2:1-5). We are most fulfilled  when Christ is our All (Psalm 107:9). I hope these things I am learning in my own journey can be an encouragement to you, dear sisters in Christ.

Dear Sisters,
 
I’d like to share with you some things the Lord has been teaching me about a Christian’s appetite. In April, I decided to drastically reduce my refined sugar intake, limiting myself to one dessert per week. At first, it was hard! I craved the many sweet treats I had typically enjoyed each day...watching my siblings eat ice cream or brownies was definitely a challenge. :) Over time, however, my appetite changed. Yes, I still liked refined sugar and sometimes desired it—but not as intensely. Also, baking naturally sweetened desserts from Brittany’s yummy recipes taught me that natural sugar is much more satisfying. Before long, my appetite changed. I didn’t battle sugar cravings; and when I did want something sweet, I actually preferred a naturally sweetened dessert! :) I felt healthier and was soon convinced that consuming refined sugar frequently just isn’t “worth it.”

Dear Sisters,
…I was recently thinking about this Christmas season. Ever since my siblings and I were young, our mom encouraged us to think of something we could give to the Lord at Christmastime. This might seem like a simple tradition, but it has been helpful for me to ponder...what can I commit to the Lord during the new year?