Preparedness Without Panic: How the Lawleys Turn Common Sense Into Everyday Resilience

What if preparedness wasn’t about fear, but freedom? In this episode, I sit down with Krista and Mark Lawley, hosts of the popular Practical Prepping podcast, to talk about how they’ve turned common sense and everyday skills into a lifestyle of joyful self-reliance. With over 110,000 followers and nearly 500 episodes under their belts, the Lawleys share how they’ve built a global community, learned from homesteaders and preppers across cultures, and kept their approach free of the doom-and-gloom stereotype.

From weathering job losses and natural disasters to mastering water purification and making preparedness fun for the whole family, Krista and Mark show how being prepared isn’t about waiting for the worst—it’s about living your best life with confidence and calm, no matter what comes your way. Tune in for their practical wisdom, hilarious anecdotes (spoiler: they’ve got a thing for toilet paper stories), and inspiring take on why community and faith are key to preparedness that works.

This is the episode that proves preparedness is as normal—and necessary—as breathing. Don’t miss it!

Join us at Preparedness Pro in our Facebook Group or on our blog where you'll find peaceful, practical preparedness advice every day of the week!

Transcript

Practical Prepping: The Art of Readiness Without Fear
Kellene: [00:00:00] Welcome to Preparedness Pro, where being prepared isn't about fear. It's about freedom. I'm your host, Kellene, and every episode we explore the peaceful principles of preparedness and self reliance. No gloom, no doom, just practical solutions for everyday living that help you become more independent and prepared for whatever life brings your way.
From kitchen skills to financial wisdom, emergency planning to sustainable living. We're building a community of capable, confident people who understand that preparedness isn't about preparing for the worst. It's about being free to live your best life regardless of what comes your way. So whether you're starting your preparedness journey or you're a seasoned pro, you're in the right place.
Welcome.
Hey everyone, it's Kellene, the Preparedness Pro. I've got another special episode in store for you today. I decided to really go all in on the expertise here today. So we have got Krista and Mark Lawley of Practical Prepping. They've got over [00:01:00] 110, 000 followers. They've had a podcast now for four years that's rated high in one of the preparedness categories.
Really wanted to have them on our show today. They're good folk. And they are not your doom and gloomers, which I love associating with that. So let's go ahead and get started. Let's find out a little bit about the Lawleys though, before we jump into some of the questions that we've got. So what made you decide to do the podcast?
Mark: Well, the podcast actually began as a way to market our second book, practical prepping for everyday people. And we wrote that, we actually started on that long before COVID actually hit in 2020 and we finished it up right there I think around October of 2020. So when we released that book, we decided to do the podcast to market that book and never had any idea that it would go to almost 500 episodes and still counting.[00:02:00] 
Kellene: You're working hard for your money now, aren't you? 
Mark: Were 
Kellene: you surprised that, I mean, you have 110, 000 plus followers on Facebook. Did that surprise you? 
Krista: Oh, yes. That's a, it still surprises us because we just launched that page in January. So there's been less than a year in the growth and the interest.
There has been phenomenal. And we're just as surprised as anyone that we have that much, , reach, not just in America, but around the world. We're making friends with folks in Scandinavia and Australia and all parts of Europe, and there's so many different levels of preparedness and so many different cultures and approaches.
So I feel like in a way, Mark and I are learning as much as anyone learning, , from those that are in the page that are far more experienced with certain aspects than we are. So, we, we are. eager to teach, but we're also quite eager to learn. And we've been able to do that with this many members.
Mark: Especially with [00:03:00] the homesteaders that do this 24 7. They've got so much experience and so many things, and we've learned so much from them. Absolutely. 
Kellene: Well, I enjoy your page. You've got good people. I've enjoyed your podcast. You've got earnest and individuals trying to learn trying to find their footing in the preparedness world.
So let me ask you this. What pivotal moment led to you. Embracing preparedness. Now I know you, you each may have a little different story, but I would love to hear from each one of you.
Krista: Well, I guess I'll jump in and start that. I didn't even realize that I was embracing preparedness. I just called it common sense back in the eighties, with my first marriage.
I was learning bargain shopping from my mother. who did not work outside the home. Daddy worked outside the home and mother raised the six of us kids at home. And so my mom taught me how to stretch a dollar and taught me how to look for a sale. So when I would be grocery [00:04:00] shopping or clothes shopping or whatever, for my first husband and daughter, I would find the best bargains I could and I would pay.
Purchase extra, I would purchase a winter coat for her that was a size bigger for next year. And what I didn't realize at the time was I was hedging against inflation and I was putting some stores away of food and other things that I would need to be more convenient. And so little did I know that, just a scant few years from doing that, that I would face financial hardship.
I would face job loss. I would face a divorce. And it put me in a position where money was extremely tight if it was even coming in at all. And then I began to realize, hey, I've become a prepper. I've become someone who embraces preparedness, not from a doom and gloom standpoint, but from the complete common sense of having what I need when I needed it.
And that's kind of pretty much what preparedness is. So that's my story. 
Mark: Mine didn't really involve a [00:05:00] particular pivotal moment to get me into preparedness. We both grew up in families that worked the farm and had to fix anything that broke. And they had to have the things necessary to make that happen.
My dad would never let me have a mini bike or a motorcycle, but he bought me a rail job, dune buggy. And we spent a lot of time in the woods and we got those things stuck. We wound up with all kinds of issues. And then I later continued with a large four wheel drive truck and we'd get those stuck in the, in, in the woods.
So you had to have a tow chain. You had to have jumper cables to jump someone else off. And so I grew up and kind of morphed into the preparedness avenue, but not so much in the food and water, but the event that really changed me on that and drove home what I needed to have in backup heat and in food and [00:06:00] water was the blizzard of 93 in central Alabama.
was living about 15 miles east of Birmingham. I had a wife that had a broken leg and was in a cast up to her hip, having had surgery on that. And then we had the major snowfall. I think the official was 14 inches. Which is extremely unusual for central Alabama. And there was 24 inches on my back deck. Our cedar tree, which the power line ran through self destructed and we were without power for seven days.
So I had auxiliary heat. And we had a limited amount of food there, but about the third or fourth day I was able to get out. I said, we're not going to put ourselves in this position again. We're going to be able to have at that time, at least seven days worth of food. So it's kind of a lifestyle. And then there [00:07:00] was an event that caused me to expand my prepping to the very, very basics of food and water.
Kellene: Well, you've heard from a lot of people in terms of their path. To a more self reliant lifestyle. Do you think that they get started the same way with perhaps a little common sense mixed in with, with , an event? 
Krista: You know, I think most people have had to either experience it or belong to a family that's experienced it because a lot of people don't just wake up and just experience it.
experience this thinking that they have to be prepared. For the most part, particularly modern day man, I think we've become very reliant on others, in a society where we have everything delivered. And I admit I had something delivered to my house today and I enjoy that, but I don't rely on it. And so what's happened, I think people have to go through a natural disaster, a storm, a hurricane, a tornado, a flood, a volcano, a wildfire, or they have to go through extended illness that maybe [00:08:00] keeps them out of work and maybe the paycheck doesn't come, or perhaps they have to become a caregiver.
I think something has to happen that's kind of cataclysmic for a lot of people to really wake up and realize, hey, I don't have what I need to face this. and they really have no one but themselves to blame. They've had every opportunity to store up food or store up water or learn skills and they just haven't done it because there's this notion that the government will take care of me or my neighbors will take care of me or my community will take care of me and somebody else will take care of me and then crisis strikes and guess what?
Nobody's coming. They can't get to you. They may mean well, but you're on your own. And I think that's what really drives most people to go, I have got to be self reliant and I've got to take the initiative to stand up and do this for myself and my family, for the people that I'm responsible for. 
Mark: And COVID brought a lot of people into preparedness.
Prior to COVID, [00:09:00] 2020, there were only about 3 percent of the population that would admit to being any type of a prepper. Well, after COVID, that's well over 50 percent now, because people realize that, hey, things can happen. Western North Carolina, Helene, the hurricane that went through, every hurricane brings in new preppers.
People say, I was not prepared for this. And that's what we see a lot of folks coming into the group. And a lot of people contacting us and even people that are purchasing our courses now that are saying, I went through this and I was not prepared. How do I get prepared? So those types of events and the empty shelves in the grocery stores.
People are waking up. Their eyes are opening. 
Kellene: Well, so what do you do then? You've had such vast experience in your own lives. What do you do when people push back with skepticism or worse? How do you navigate that? [00:10:00] 
Krista: You know, I've noticed that The only people that push back or are skeptical are the ones that apparently have never experienced some of the things we have and you know, that's great.
If they've never had a crisis or disaster in their life, they're the luckiest person I've ever heard of. And all I can tell them is, listen, I'm here to tell you that I've lived it. I'm not just dreaming up the story. I've been in a tornado. I've. been through disaster. I've been without power for two weeks.
I have been, I have experienced and these are really in a way, kind of light compared to the devastation that some people are going through. I mean, I think about Maui, you know, it burned to the ground. I think about Western North Carolina. I mean, there's people over there that the temporary roads that have been built have washed away now.
So for the skeptic, , I don't know if either they've just or fear is keeping them from even broaching the subject. You know, if people are afraid of something, they don't want to talk about it like death. Well, a [00:11:00] lot of people don't want to talk about self reliance because it feels like a lot of responsibility.
And I think a lot of people don't know how to be responsible for themselves. And they're just going to need to face it. I mean, I don't wish a disaster on anyone, but you and I both know it's not if, it's when. And. We know bad weather will come. We know hardship will come. That's not a pipe dream. That's not a fantasy.
That's not something that doesn't ever happen. It happens every day to somebody somewhere. And why don't we just acknowledge the fact that we're all kind of on this globe together and We'll experience it. And then I think we'll have more compassion for others who do experience it because we know how that feels.
Kellene: Well, you know, you remind me, I just interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, not too many days ago. And one of the things that I took away from that was he was talking about how denial will kill you twice. It'll [00:12:00] kill you because you lose. And then it'll kill you because of the torment of all the things you could have done right that you had plenty of time to prepare to figure out beforehand.
And then it goes on to say how preparedness will save you twice. Oh, saves you mentally, and it saves you literally. 
Krista: And I think a lot of people may avoid it because they misunderstand the term prepper. They have an image in their mind that's kind of Hollywoodized, kind of like that whack a doodle wanderer through the woods that's talking to themselves, and they live in a camper, and everything is a conspiracy theory.
That's not what prepper is. we're about. That is not the image or the lifestyle that we're embracing. We're just getting back to common sense. What do I need today? What will I need in a week? What will this family need to get by us? Like Mark says, if you wake up with four feet of snow on the ground and you got no power, how long are you going to stay warm and fed?
You know, when you can answer that question intelligently, you've prepared. When your answer is, I don't have anything, then you need to get [00:13:00] prepared. 
Kellene: Yep. Yeah, absolutely. 
Mark: And that's the question that I use with a lot of people that don't see much sense in it. I just bring it back to the practical. And we're in North Alabama.
We don't often have a large snow. Most of our snows really require that you have an extra cup of coffee and wait till about 10 o'clock and it's gone. Yeah, right. Pretty much. You know, a year or two ago, it was ice and the schools were closed for over a week. We didn't have to go anywhere. We didn't have to get anything.
When we were both diagnosed with COVID, I should say tested positive for COVID at the same time. And they said, well, you can't go anywhere for five days. You have to quarantine for five days. We just looked at each other and said, okay, we've got five days off together. Absolutely. 
Krista: Oh, and let me go on record by saying that, remember 2020, the big toilet paper shortage, we had cases of it.
We are not hoarding it, but we [00:14:00] never had to panic buy anything. We never looked at each other and said, Oh no, what are we going to do? Because we had already put some things on the shelf. 
Mark: And when she says cases, it's not like our garage was a warehouse of toilet tissue. 
Krista: Two cases. 
Mark: We buy two of the big cases, 48 rolls or whatever's in it.
And 
Krista: this was long before the toilet paper shortage. And we've been 
Mark: doing this forever. You work out a one and when you get to the end of it, you have your other one and you buy another one. So you've never, you've never got less than one case. Yeah. Or more than two cases and it's worked out great. That's what we like 
Krista: about preparedness is that it's, it staves off panic.
We don't have to fear. We don't have to wonder, you know, because we've taken some steps. It's cost a small amount of money. We're not trying to go into debt to be preppers. I buy an extra couple of cans of something at the grocery store every time I go. And over time that builds up a nice prepper pantry.
And then I shop that pantry when I need items. [00:15:00] I take out of my pantry and then restore that the next time I go to the grocery store. So it's an ongoing process and it's, you know, it's small potatoes, but it adds up. 
Kellene: Well, let me ask you this. You've been doing this a while. What surprises you about yourself about perhaps a skill that you've taken on that you never imagined that you would take on?
Krista: That's an excellent question. We, skills is really a great deal of it too. It's not just food and water, but, learning how to start a fire nine different ways. I'm one of these that was raised with, I have a match and I have some tinder, you know, that's how I started a fire. Well, now I know how to start a fire with a ferro rod and with a magnifying glass.
 With all sorts of different ways. And, and that's just one thing that if I needed to start a fire, if I had to cook outside, I've got ways to prepare food away from electricity, gas, or anything appliance. Also I know how to change a tire. I know how to check oil in the automobile. You know, [00:16:00] I know how to jump off a battery.
They've got devices now that I can do this by myself with just one car. I don't even need two cars, which is great. You know, so for, especially for a lady, a lot of times we avoid some of the dirty work and it's really not that difficult to be quite honest. You know, we can do it. So I like knowing that I can be somewhat self reliant and that I have a husband that will take care of me, but he may not be nearby if I'm stranded on the road and need to jump a battery.
So I've got a jump box and I can do that. Preparedness taught me that. And so I don't have to bite my fingernails and be scared. I can just take action and take, solve the problem and get on with my life. 
Kellene: What about you, Mark? 
Mark: Well, I guess the one skill that kind of caught me by surprise with me learning, I knew how to start fires.
I grew up in the woods, grew up in the pasture, lived on the old home place. We were all the time building fires, but water purification, [00:17:00] I was familiar with water purification tablets and we actually had a few of those. You fill up your canteen, a quart canteen, you drop a couple in there, wait 30 minutes, shake it up, and it's supposed to be purified.
I had no idea that there were so many ways to purify water and that I would learn many of those skills. to be able to do that. I mean, water is the number one most important thing that we need long term. Yes, we need hope. We need security. We need to be safe. But in the long term situation, Water is our most critical need and we have water stored and I don't know, we could probably go a month on the amount of water that we have stored.
But if we were to be in an extremely long term situation. There's a river about five miles away. I don't know [00:18:00] what all goes into that river, so we need to purify that. There are creeks, there are swimming pools in the neighborhood, so I now know a lot of ways that I could do that, and I never had any idea that that was a skill that I might could need, because to be honest, when we were hunting in the woods, you know, We drank whatever water the Lord provided for us there out of the creek or the river.
I mean, he was taking 
Krista: care of you. 
Mark: He was taking care of us. I mean, literally, we filled our canteens from the stream. as we were, you know, hiking and stuff like that, no concept of a water purification or water filter.
Kellene: Well, what about, your strategy? Because you clearly have a very profound philosophy of preparedness without instilling fear and anxiety.
Tell me how you guys decided on this. And how you're doing such a good job of deviating from the doom and gloomers. 
Krista: Well, I think [00:19:00] when you focus on the common sense aspect of just ordinary daily life, that really explains not having to be fearful or full of anxiety. I'm kind of reminded of the Boy Scout motto, be prepared.
Well, the Boy Scouts didn't instill fear and anxiety with their motto. And why? Because they. learned common sense things. And I think that those of us with, maybe young children that are interested in a preparedness lifestyle without the doom and gloom, we can start with our young children and letting them take part in helping with preparedness by teaching them age appropriate skills and helping them understand the importance of being able to have food and water available when you need it and that it takes some commitment, a little bit of commitment, but it's not, it's not a fearful lifestyle.
And I think that we as parents, we can model that to our children and our extended family members that if we're [00:20:00] doing this, not because we're frightened, but we're doing this because it makes a lot of good sense. And I think that that rubs off and I think that that is contagious. And people begin to see by example, Oh, okay, I get it.
What you're doing is just common sense intelligence and you're not trying to look for trouble and you're not trying to, you know, hide under a box or something like that. We're just out here living our life and we've decided we're just not going to be fearful. And it doesn't mean fear doesn't exist. It just means that preparedness meets fear and kind of beats it down a little bit.
And I've seen that happen for us more and more. So I think that if we just keep our approach of this is just common sense living. This is just the kind of smart stuff our parents taught us. Our very, very smart parents, both of our sets of parents were raised in the depression. And dad used to say, we started with nothing and had most of it left.
And so it's just how they live. They learn how to take one thing and get 10 uses out of it. And it's just common sense living. And I [00:21:00] think in a way we've lost some of that as a society. And if Mark and I are helpful in bringing some of that back, then, we're very proud of being able to do that.
And we are extremely excited to see young people kind of catch on and say, Hey, this really isn't hard to do. We can completely handle this and have fun doing it. I mean, I know of ways that people have made games out of a prep weekend. Like let's go camping right here in the backyard and let's cook our meals out here on the grill.
And let's, and the kids are just having camp weekend. You're teaching them, Hey, I can actually, forage the correct plants and I can actually learn how to do these things. And so I guess that's probably my answer to your question. 
Mark: A lot of it has to do with your spiritual condition, in my opinion, or in our opinion.
You prepare for the things that you can do something about. We can prepare for needing food, [00:22:00] needing water, needing shelter, you know, we can prepare for those basic things and we feel like we are, but beyond that, there are things that we cannot control. You know, we cannot control where the, tornado goes.
I mean, it could wipe us out, but we're not afraid of that. And one of the reasons is, is we know what happens when all of this is over. I mean, we're secure in our relationship with the Lord and scripture teaches us to be prepared. It does. And that's one of the reasons we wrote the 31 day devotional for preppers.
Not only to help preppers to become closer to God, but to help skeptics, those that don't see any sense in prepping to come to realize that the Bible does teach us to be prepared. And 365 times it says, do not fear, do not be afraid. Um, [00:23:00] God says, I've got this. So we take care of the things that we can do something about, and we just leave all the other stuff up to him.
It takes a lot off of our plate. 
Kellene: Well, you know, it's interesting when I teach the 10 principles of preparedness, people are assuming that I'm going to talk about food first or water, but first and foremost, the first principle of preparedness is spiritual preparedness, because as people will tell you who went through the hurricanes, that we had, the Milton and Helene, you know, some of them had things, they were prepared temporally speaking, but they lost it all.
So guess what they had left? All they had left was their relationship with God. And that's how, that's what got them through the tough times. 
Mark: Zig Ziglar said, we're going to be dead a lot longer than we're going to be alive. So we need to make preparations now for when we're dead. 
Krista: Well, yeah. Well, we'd be living, but our bodies will be dead, but yeah, 
Mark: his point was well taken and that's the ultimate preparation that [00:24:00] we can make.
Krista: I think so too. I agree with that a hundred percent. 
Kellene: Yeah, I, we're on the same page there. That's for sure. , what can we do? Do you think, maybe, you know, we joined forces here and we, we set out with this battle here. How can we, , do you think, preparedness, how can we reframe it as an empowering and joyful lifestyle rather than some ominous necessity?
Mark: She referred to the question that I often ask if you wake up tomorrow with six ft of snow on the ground, no power. How long can you keep your family warm and fed? , that opens a lot of folks is a lot of folks eyes. And what we look to do is to get family involvement, to get family involvement and to make it fun to make it not be fearful and to to make people realize that, We can learn alternate ways to do what we normally do.
Like Krista mentioned cooking while ago, our backups have [00:25:00] backups. I mean, I think we have, right here, five ways to be able to prepare food. And a lot of people don't realize how many more ways they have. Now we do have a camp stove, which is my choice is to just bring in the camp stove, set it on top of the stove and cook away.
 There's no oven with that, but there's a gas grill out here on the patio that Krista can do wonders with that. She can do anything from boil water, grill meat. She tells me she can even bake on a grill. Of 
Krista: course. 
Mark: And so we have that. We have a smoker. , and last but not least, oh, we don't have a charcoal grill, but we do store charcoal because we can put about four cinder blocks out here in the backyard and build a charcoal fire and put a grate over that and cook on the charcoal grill, or we can put that Concrete blocks out there, the cinder blocks, and we can cook over an open fire.
She's got so much cast iron in here that she [00:26:00] loves regardless of prepping purposes or what she cooks in it all the time. And so that's just ways that people don't realize that they have things. That they can already use. And when we start teaching someone new, don't go off and buy anything. Let's look around the house and see what you have and let's bring those things together.
And you'll be surprised at how much you have already, rather than looking at that ominous task of having to get ready, you're more ready than you realize. 
Kellene: Yeah, I think people need to realize that they've got more substance to them than they think, for me, it being a joyful lifestyle. I just like knowing that if I'm throwing a curve ball, , or a fur ball as the case may be.
Krista: And he insists on being up every time we record. He's got to be up in it. So, well, 
Kellene: welcome the prepper cat. I got one of those too. 
Mark: Let me go back and say [00:27:00] one thing. We were talking about the alternative methods to cook. This is common sense. And if you don't already know this, do not cook on a propane. a grill or a propane turkey fryer or any of that type thing in an enclosed area, including the garage, that will kill you.
So I just, carbon monoxide kills. Safety 
Kellene: first. 
Krista: Yeah. 
Mark: I just wanted to remind folks of that. 
Kellene: Well, talking about a joyful lifestyle, I think that curve balls are going to come. No ifs, ands or buts about it. And I think being able to look those curve balls dead in the face and go, I've got this between me and my preparedness.
And, and God, I've got this no ifs, ands, or buts. And that makes a person so much more confident. And I don't know about you, but I think we need more confident people and competent people in the world today. I think we've got too many people just so myopic and focused in their [00:28:00] phones and their troubles.
And I just love the preparedness lifestyle and how it makes it. Very different. You're not, you're not afraid of your own shadow anymore. You feel like, I got this. I can do this. 
Krista: Well, I think too, and the way that you tell your prepping story, if you want to embrace a joyous attitude about prepping, then share your story of how prepping got you through.
 I always love to hear somebody's story. I haven't been through all the disasters people have been through. I hope I don't go through what a lot of what I've heard about, but when I get so empowered and encouraged, when I hear someone talk about this happened to me and I thought I was going to die, but I didn't die.
And this is what happened. And they share their story and you can tell that there's a victorious kind of an element of overcoming, getting through. And they full well acknowledge the Lord did it, but they also full well acknowledge that. They also had the preparedness to get through it. And don't think that they won't be even more prepared [00:29:00] next time, because this person knows something can happen and they can joyously share their story with perhaps a skeptic or someone who's discouraged or think that prepping simply means you're asking bad things to happen to you.
I mean, that's like somebody says, don't talk about death. It'll happen. 
Mark: Or having, I'm sorry, we're all terminal. I have car insurance, so I'm worried about having a wreck. 
Krista: Yeah. That's not how you should look at it. I put on 
Mark: a seatbelt. So I'm worried about having a wreck. No, those are things in case I have a wreck.
Krista: Right. Yeah. But yeah, I think just the way that we, the way that we tell our story, our preparedness story, if we can have a joyful, encouraging slant on what we're talking about and let someone know and be encouraged through our experience, I think that's also contagious. And I think people can sometimes get their minds changed about how they view it and perhaps that negativity can then evaporate.
Kellene: Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's switch gears here. Let's talk about the aspect of a [00:30:00] community, you know, because there's so many of those survivalists and, and they have, you know, they've Hollywoodized as you put it, you know, the Rambos of the world or the lone survivor. How, what role does community play in preparedness?
Krista: Well, I think it's extremely important because as you well know, we are created as a social being. We are not created to be lone wanderers. Solo act, you know for the rest of our lives and I think that what's fascinating is There the groups that you may want to be a part of are already out there It's just a matter of you finding them And if somebody honestly cannot find a group to connect with maybe they just need to start one we actually were following some prepping pages on facebook long before we even established our own group page And we reached out to some local folks that We were fascinated with their story because these were practical preppers in a sense.
These were folks that were coming together as part [00:31:00] of their church group and there were herbalists and foragers and, homesteaders and people that were just doing everyday ordinary living, but they were very self reliant people. And we reached out to them in private message and say, Hey, you're not that very far away from us.
Would you allow us to come and visit your group? And they were like more than welcoming. Oh, please come. We would love to have you. And then when they found out that we were the practical prepping podcast, a lot of them said, we already listened to you. We didn't realize that you were in our area. And so we became part of a local group.
Roughly about an hour's drive away from us. And we can go. personally and we've met these people and what's neat is we meet together and invariably somebody's going to come and give a dozen eggs to everybody because their hens were very productive this week and or they'll have special speakers and guests to talk about all sorts of ways to be self reliant and to maximize the talents and skills that you have and that's what I like about a group.
We can't all do the same thing. [00:32:00] It's just like what the Lord says about the body of Christ. We are all not just one part. We all have a different function and different talents and skills and gifts. And that's true, even in the preparedness world where there's people that are very skilled at being able to build shelter or, build a shelter.
Raise and butcher meat 
Mark: or medical 
Krista: medical, , professionals that know how to, we've got several in the field, , military medics that have done some under fire combat medicine, which is pretty good stuff to know. You know, 
Mark: you also come down that group. Now, a lot of people, when they talk about a group, they're talking about a mag group, mutual assistance group.
And their idea is after the end of the world, as we know it, we'll come together and we'll survive. Well, I've been around the sun 67 times now and the world as I know it has changed, but it's not ended. There's been a lot of disasters that came along. I've been involved in disaster relief and [00:33:00] in a number of areas.
And, but one of the things that we wind up with is people need people. And when there is an emergency, when there is a disaster, communities come together. During these disasters, so many people are talking about, I'm going to be a lone wolf or I'm not letting anybody into my circle or all of these people are just going to want to steal your stuff and they'll kill you to get it.
Well, I've used a chainsaw a lot more in a disaster than I've ever needed a firearm at a disaster. 
Krista: Amen to that. 
Mark: You know, there's just so many things there, but. People come together, and one of the neat things, and I saw this in Nashville, Tennessee, a number of years ago, my sister was hit with a tornado, and that community, we went up there, my son in law and my dad and I went up there, and we worked for a number of weeks, [00:34:00] but that Three block area when it was all over with, they had a big block party and that we actually drove from Birmingham to Nashville to be there for that block party because we'd gotten to know these people.
Well, that became an assistance group, just that little community and they can reach out together today. and help each other. And that's been 20 years ago. And they can reach out today and help each other as a community in ways that they have gotten to know each other and to know the needs of others and to have the confidence to be able to reach out either for help or in help.
So it's an opportunity to form those groups. So there's a couple of ways to go at it. You can look for like minded people, you know, if you're all, I said this on the podcast the other day, [00:35:00] if you're preparing for zombies, you need a bunker. But as Krista said, a lot of times, you know, when the zombies show up, we'll cover zombies on the podcast.
Krista: It's not an issue right now 
Mark: when the aliens start showing up. And, and I really don't think that the. The drones that we're seeing across the eastern half of the United States right now, that's not aliens because they're, they're in compliance with the FAA with the markings on the red and green lights.
So, you know, but when the aliens come, we'll address the aliens. 
Krista: Yeah, but until then, We agree that we think good preppers, meet people and have good neighbors and they are a good neighbor. And there, there's generally a crisis usually does bring out the best and not the worst as that's been our experience.
Kellene: So what do you do to acknowledge , the instances that, that could come about, where there would be some violence? How do you prepare for that [00:36:00] mentally? 
Krista: Well, we already live in a society. that deals with that. And he's formed, you know, very experienced law enforcement and can look at that from that perspective of he's had to prepare to live in a society that's kind of already there in a sense.
So why don't you address? 
Mark: Yeah, I'm retired law enforcement, 24 years as sworn deputy sheriff. Those are some issues that I've already faced. Our family is our first priority, but after that we'll help as much as we can in whatever way we can. And it's like we always said at work, uh, whatever happens today, we're going home when we get off.
We might be late getting off and that, that's something Krista had to learn is that there are times I'm going to be late and I can't call you and tell you. 
Krista: Yeah. 
Mark: I'm out there 
Krista: fighting bad guys. 
Mark: Well, or I'm stuck on a wreck or something like that. Or helping somebody. Or We might be late, but the name of the [00:37:00] game is to go home when you get off.
I've got the same attitude and mental thinking, mental strategy when it comes to protecting Krista or our children or our nine grandchildren, um, you know. At the end of the day, we're alive, whatever that might take. 
Kellene: Well, let me ask you this. We've got time for one more question. What is it that you wish that Preppers really got through their head?
What's one bit of wisdom that you wish all Preppers knew?
Krista: Golly, that's a great question. I think that if I could wish one thing for all preppers to get into their head is to embrace the normalcy of common sense and to realize that this is not some sort of an elite force that operates outside of the norm, that I think prepping is the norm, and I think it is as normal as breathing, [00:38:00] and it should be as customary as waking up in the morning, and I think that if we could just embrace Have some respect for personal choices and let people kind of live their life and mind your business, but share your wisdom, your experience and your resources as you feel led to do.
 Everyone has to follow their own spiritual leadership and we don't try to force anyone to follow our particular way. Although we do believe that, , Almighty God is the one to follow and all others have proven false. But we also try to understand and respect, even on our page, we have, so many different faiths and cultures and ethnicities and belief systems, but they all seem to come together with the common sense of prepping.
So I think if personal respect, setting some boundaries, but being open. I think would be what I would want to wish on preppers. 
Mark: I would [00:39:00] wish that people would prepare for the basics. , if you're prepared with food, water, shelter, , auxiliary heating, cooking, you know, those types of things, that'll get you through 95 percent of the things we could face.
Is it possible we could have an EMP? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not. Is it possible that we could have a nuclear war? It's possible. Is it likely? Not really. So prepare for the normal stuff and that'll get you through 95 percent of what we would need to get through anyway. Uh, if, if it's nuclear, we don't want to live through a nuclear war.
I'd like to have 30 minutes notice so we can get a glass of sweet tea because I'm diabetic and I haven't had a glass of sweet tea in some 10 years. Go out on the patio, sit down, drink that tea and watch the fireworks. Cause we're about five miles off of a known target. Okay. We're not living [00:40:00] through this.
So let's just get that out of the way. We're not preparing for nukes. We're not really preparing for EMP with Faraday cages and things like that. We're not preparing for any end of the world scenarios outside of our relationship with Jesus Christ, but we're preparing for the things that do happen.
We've gone through a job loss. We cut from two incomes to one income. Our preps got us through that beautifully. It. was more of a supplement to what we were, well, really what we did was we had to go buy the supplement. We had the staples, we buy the fresh produce and the meat and things like that, but it got us through pretty well.
So that's what I would want people to do is to be preparing for the things that really happen in your area, the things you are most likely to face. And you'll be okay for the rest of it. 
Kellene: Well, I have to agree with you. And I am just so grateful that you were [00:41:00] willing to, come onto my show and to share your wisdom and to do it in such a consistent, faithful manner.
 We need more of people like you in the world, especially in the world of preparedness. We need that common sense voice, in the wilderness, so to speak. And so thank you so very much for being willing to come on the show. I really appreciate it. 
Krista: Kellene, it's been a pleasure. We enjoy having you as part of our group on the page.
It's been delightful to get to know you and know what your journey is and your thoughts about preparedness. And we have enjoyed it and have feel thoroughly honored that you would want to interview us. And we hope to do this again sometime. Well, 
Kellene: let's make sure people know how to find you folks. 
Krista: Yes.
Mark: Simple. Practicalprepping. info. Okay. Everything, everything revolves around that. Practicalprepping. info. That's our website. You can get, podcasts from there. You can get articles from there. You can, there's a blog that I don't keep up as much as I ought to, [00:42:00] but there's all kinds of things on there.
But anything that we do, you can find from practicalprepping. info. We were talking about fears while ago, just dawned on me. I'm sitting here between two redheads. One of 'em is six foot tall, so , , 
Krista: somehow Kellene, we, we redhead ladies have some sort of a reputation of being fierce. So, , he's survived the fierceness of, of me anyway, at least for the last 10 years.
and, , and he survived 
Kellene: for the last 45 minutes. We're good. We're good. You hat off. Forget the long, great of the redheads.
Krista: Thank you so much. You've been a real delight. 
Kellene: All right. Thank you folks
Thanks for joining us today on Preparedness Pro. I hope you enjoyed yourself and learned something new. Want more preparedness inspiration? Join our live shows every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a. m. Eastern on YouTube or [00:43:00] Facebook at Preparedness Pro, where we can answer your questions live. Looking for a community of like minded people who understand that preparedness is about freedom?
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