The Perfect Storm?

Wow, what a forecast for the year. Clothing prices going up due to "skyrocketing" cotton prices. Food going up due to freezes, droughts, floods, and other reasons for bad harvests. The middle east especially is in a tizzy and much of it due to rising food costs which for them are already well over 50% of their income. Is this going to be the year of the perfect storm that truly wakes up the sleeping sheep in America? Someone mentioned the other day in a forum that I read that collapse IS happening here just very slowly. One business closes today, one house is foreclosed on tomorrow, one more person loses a job, etc. etc. Are we headed in the same direction as Argentina where one buggy of food from poorly stocked grocery shelves costs over 1400 pesos and the average monthly income is 250 pesos? We have had it so easy here for so long, yet we are no longer the formidable empire that we once were. In fact we are quickly becoming the laughing stock of the world and what happens when that world will no longer support us? What will Americans do? Will we pull up our bootstraps and dig in to start over in a new direction? Or will we cry and whine in the streets that no one is coming to our rescue? As for me and mine we will pull up our bootstraps and I suspect that there are many more out there just like us. I don't write this post to send anyone into a panic or to even be depressing. What I am trying to point out is that many times we need to take a good hard look at ourselves and our lives to re-evaluate what we do now and what we can do in the future. The time to do that is when things are relatively comfortable. I know many times I have been told that because I think of these types of things that I have no faith in God and His provisions. I have all faith in God. I have faith that He has given me enough warning of what is to come, so that I can be prepared. God absolutely positively does provide everything we need, but there has to be a little bit of effort on our part as well. Like the old joke about the man on his roof after a big flood. A guy in a rowboat comes by and he refuses to get in, then as the waters continue to rise a guy in a canoe comes by and he refuses again. Then the waters are washing over the roof and a guy in a motorboat comes by and he refuses again. Each time he says "God will save me". Then he gets to heaven and asks God why He didn't save him as he had such strong faith. God's reply, "I sent 3 boats, what more did you want?" Indeed we all have to make a little effort and grab onto what God has provided, which are the signs that bad times are coming. We need to make the effort to prepare ourselves mentally, spiritually and physically. Seeing the signs that some tough times are coming makes me sit down and reflect on the skills that I have and the skills that I should have. What more can I do to live without some things that truly aren't needed? What effort is required of me to live with what God has provided? Take this time to ask this of yourselves. It is a good time to reflect on our lives. Blessings from the farm, Kat