*This post includes FREE printabables to assist you in putting together a Food Storage & Emergency Preparedness Binder!

Finding Peace Through Food Storage- My Story

Hello! Welcome to my website, modernfoodstoragemama.com. My name is Brittany.

I am very passionate about food storage, and there’s a reason for that. I’ve experienced firsthand the sense of security and peace that comes with being prepared during times of crisis.

Sharing MY Story

I want to share my story with you. This chapter of my life is challenging to talk about. By sharing my experience, I hope that someone else will feel less alone. My hope is that sharing my story will encourage others to see that food storage is their food insurance.

You might wonder why I am sharing something so personal and vulnerable online. I have put a lot of thought and prayer into what I should say about “my story.”

I have wondered if I share more openly, will that come across as unprofessional? And I have also wondered if I give a short and more upbeat version, will that feel phony and not authentic? Let’s just say, I am still trying to figure out how to navigate sharing online.

The internet and social media can be a tricky place. We often don’t hear or see reality. So much of what we see online is a filtered version of the highlights of people’s lives.

With much consideration and prayer, I have taken the advice of one of my favorite authors.

Choose Courage Over Comfort

I want to choose courage over comfort!

With that, I am choosing to be vulnerable about a chapter in my life that was very scary, challenging, and in many ways, traumatic for me. This experience was also profound, humbling, and I am deeply grateful for the lessons I learned.

Many years ago, when I was a young mother with three small children, my husband and I faced a severe and life-altering financial crisis. We had to move from a beautiful home that we loved and temporarily move into my in-law’s basement until we could save enough money to rent a home for our family.

During this time, we lost everything we had ever worked for, financially speaking. We blew through our savings trying to prevent the loss of rental homes and our family home. Eventually, we had to short-sell our home. Our investments went belly up, and we found ourselves in circumstances we didn’t ever expect to be in.

While going through this financial hardship, we simultaneously went through other personal trials. I often wondered why we had to go through so much. At times I felt terrified, isolated, and helpless. I didn’t feel like I could talk to anyone about our trials. Throughout this experience, I tried every day to put a smile on my face for my sweet little children. I did my best to have a positive attitude. It wasn’t easy to stay positive. Each day I looked for things to feel grateful for.

Finding a new home!

We spent a few months living in my in-law’s basement while we scrapped up enough money to move into a small rental home. I will never forget the day we moved into that cute historic home, it was Halloween Day. This home was much smaller than the home we had to leave and the house didn’t have a garage. Living in a state with lots of snow, having no garage was challenging with three little kids. Despite the changes in our circumstances, I was so grateful for the roof over our heads and a place to call our own.

It was so exciting to pull our boxes and bins out of storage and start to set up a home for our family again. A few years before we experienced these trials, I began to learn more about food storage and emergency preparedness. After experiencing several strong impressions, I start stockpiling food and supplies. I had no idea at the time why I felt so strongly that I needed to do this. I was stocking up on everything from canned foods to long-term food storage to cereal, toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, shampoo, and many other items.

The home we rented had a good-sized pantry in the kitchen. I vividly remember unpacking our food storage boxes and filling the shelves. I remember standing in the pantry with tears falling down my cheeks because I suddenly realized I didn’t have as much to worry about as I thought. Knowing we had food and supplies for our family eased other heavy burdens.

Preparedness will bring peace, despite what is going on around you.

At a time in my life when I felt like I had so little control and the trials we were facing felt so scary, I was shocked by the amount of peace my emergency preparedness efforts brought me. I had created a form of Food Insurance for my family without realizing it. Through this experience of facing food scarcity and not knowing how we would afford groceries for our family, I truly began to understand just how vital food storage is. We relied heavily on our food storage supply for many months. Every meal we ate contained something from our food storage stockpile. In no time, I became a pro at making canned chicken taste good.

When facing these trials, I often felt embarrassed to struggle like we were. I felt helpless. We got married young and had our first three children fast. Because I became a mom at a young age, I didn’t have any education at that time, so my options for helping to provide for my family were limited. My husband and I struggled immensely in our marriage for various reasons. I often felt like my life and marriage were falling apart.

Growth Comes Through Struggle.

I didn’t realize then that I was learning lessons I could learn no other way. I never imagined that I would feel such a deep sense of gratitude for the lessons I learned through those hardships. During that time of my life, things felt heavy and dark often. Looking back on these experiences many years later, I am grateful for what we learned through struggle.

I have learned that sometimes we must go through challenging, isolating, lonely, and painful experiences. These experiences help us learn and grow in ways that give us empathy for others who are going through difficult circumstances. Many of life’s most profound lessons I have learned through difficult trials.

You are not alone!

If you are facing challenges right now or have parts of your life story that involve painful and private trials, I want you to know that you are not alone. Despite the perfection we often see portrayed online, everyone has struggles and things they deal with privately behind closed doors. Food storage certainly won’t solve all of our problems, but I can promise that having it will bring you more peace than you realize. We don’t know what the future holds. We could experience job loss, natural disasters, food shortages, or other emergencies and crises.

Why Do YOU Need Food Storage?

We don’t know if or when we will face a natural disaster, job loss, illness, or other type of emergency. While it is impossible to fully prepare for every possible scenario, we can do our best to become more prepared over time. By building up a food storage supply, we prepare our homes and families for situations that could take us by surprise. You will feel increased peace as we work on preparedness in all forms, food storage, emergency preparedness supplies, building up our savings, and more. I firmly believe in my motto, Preparedness = Peace (TM).

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you will explore my website to learn more about food storage and emergency preparedness. Please feel free to contact me via Instagram @foodstoragemama or facebook @modernfoodstoragemama with any questions.

I created FREE printables for you to make your own food storage and emergency preparedness binder!

Instructions:

Buy a binder with a clear plastic cover where you can put one of my binder covers inside the plastic. Also, buy dividers to separate each section. Use the binder to keep all the other valuable free printables on my site and any helpful information about food storage and emergency preparedness. To get updates when I release new printables and infographics, make sure you sign up for my email list!

I have created three different designs for you to choose from for your binder. You can download all three and mix and match the designs or stick with the design you like best. I hope you have fun with this project! Please reach out to me with any questions you have.

*Disclaimer: These printables are provided for your personal use. You are welcome to share them with family, friends, groups, etc. The PDF’s may not be altered in anyway. You can not remove the logo, website, or QR code. You cannot sell the PDFs/printables. I would love for you to share these resources and tell others about modernfoodstoragemama.com!

*White Theme- Food Storage Mama Binder

*Green Theme- Food Storage Mama Binder

*Rust Theme- Food Storage Mama Binder

xoxo,
Brittany