You wouldn’t know there is a global crisis going on if you were to take a walk in my neighborhood. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and the daffodils and tulips are blazes of color in my neighbors’ lawns.

The biggest change we’ve seen in our neighborhood is the number of people going on walks. We have had events canceled, but no one in my home has shed a single tear. It feels like we have a storm moving in on us at a glacial pace. But, I wonder if it will wear itself out before it reaches us. At least, I hope.

Perhaps you are in the midst of the storm and practically need permission to leave your home. Perhaps you are praying for enough PPE to get through your shift at the hospital. Perhaps, like me, you’re on a Zoom meeting in your trailer hoping the internet isn’t disrupted again so you don’t have to ring back in.

Whatever state you find yourself in, Covid-19 has taught us, we don’t know enough about being prepared. Kathi Lipp had this realization a couple years ago when she saw her townhome nearly go up in flames. In her panic, she grabbed her dog Jake, but didn’t check any of the bedrooms for sleeping teenagers.

Their son was fine and Roger would like to be known as the man who went back into a burning building to save his son (not the man who left him in there in the first place). Their home, thankfully, did not burn to the ground that day, but it did inspire their quest to be prepared for anything.

They aren’t doomsday preppers, but they’d like to be a little further from the razor edge of living paycheck to paycheck. Kathi’s dream was to be the one who could provide help, not the one who needed it all the time. She wanted to stop driving her car out of gas (which she did on more than one occasion) and, instead, have a gas can at the ready.

Anyone who’s navigated Christian circles for a second knows about the Proverbs 31 woman. She’s the archetype for all aspiring Christian women and for a long time Kathi rebelled against such a perfect role model. But, this verse caught her eye:

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

She can laugh at the days to come.

Proverbs 31:25

Kathi loves to laugh, but laughing at the future? Being confident enough about tomorrow it didn’t cause her worry? That was worth pursuing. Leaning into God’s wisdom and preparing her family for crises big or small -Kathi knew it was time to begin that journey.

I’m so glad she did because here I am today sharing with you her hard-won, God-given wisdom. This is a book for those who are ready for some margin in their lives. They are ready to stop living on a prayer and start getting ahead of the game– this book is for you.

It couldn’t come at a better time. We are facing a global crisis that, but the time it’s over, is going to impact all of us. The best time to prepare is before a crisis, obviously, but the second best time to prepare is right now.

On a personal note, I’m excited to share this book with my husband. We landed in opposite arenas when it came to how prepared we needed to be for this pandemic. It was a rough conversation. He thought I was over-reacting; I thought he wasn’t prepared enough.

The true needs rising to the surface being security, leadership, and provision. Tough, deep level issues surfaced as we tried to understand each other. I think that conversation needed to happen and I believe we will find guidelines we agree on in this book. I have hope that these points of connection will lead to less stress-filled conversations in the coming months or the next time a crisis strikes.