Prepare your family for an emergency? Many of us think: Those things may happen to others, but not to us – right?
Now we probably wouldn’t come right out and say it, but we think it, at least I do.
It really shook my faith when two incidences happened relatively close together and to people I know and love.
First, our 18-month-old son went from an ear infection to a leukemia diagnosis overnight. I remember thinking, He can’t have leukemia, I don’t even know how to spell it!
Then a friend got cancer. She was a young mother with several children. I know I never said that young Christian mothers never die, but I discovered that I believed that in my heart. She died when her baby was just six months old.
- Those things happened years ago, but I still think about them.
- It’s made me more aware of our need to plan for emergencies.
- No, I’m not into survivalist mode, but we do a moderate amount of preparation.
Prepare your heart for emergencies
The first thing I worked on was my heart. I knew there would be more difficult situations as my life moved on. In fact, the Lord tells us it’s a certainty.
- “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
This verse is a promise – you will have trouble – not you might, or maybe, but you will have trouble. Don’t forget that the Lord has overcome the world!
We need to prepare our hearts so we trust the Lord in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.
This will be an ongoing process that we will need to work on regularly.
Prepare for your needs in an emergency
- When our children were younger, we practiced how to get out of the house in an emergency and where to gather after so we could be sure we were all out. They each knew how to exit the house quickly. They knew not to open a door until they felt if it was hot, and other age-appropriate information.
- We saved and bought a small generator. Thankfully, we have never had to use it, but we’ve had friends who needed it and we were glad to share.
- We stocked up on food that wouldn’t spoil quickly like rice, beans, coffee – I know I could handle an emergency better if I had coffee.
- As campers, we already had a small stove, utensils, backpacks.
- We purchased a spare fuel tank for our grill and try to keep them filled.
These are a few common sense things that we could do easily.
When Cronrad Novak from Survivors Fortress contacted me about an article he had written about what to do in a power outage, it amazed me that over time we have put many of his ideas into practice. But there are some we never thought of and will add to our list.
I hope this list will bless you. Don’t panic, thinking you need to have everything done at once. Look to the Lord and do what He wants you to do.
Be sure to look around his site because it has a lot of helpful information.
