Today’s blog is part what I got rid of and part public service announcement.
A week ago, we had a rather significant earthquake in Southern California. It was centered where my parents live. We felt it at our home 35 miles away. This was one of those wake up calls that caused me to look at our emergency plan. This is the public service part of the blog – if you don’t have a plan get a plan. A few tips:
1) have a bag ready with extra clothes, food, water, flashlight, radio and other supplies you may need. Also, don’t forget your pet. Have food and water for them as well.
2) discuss the plan of connecting with your family if you are not all together. One part of that plan should include having a relative or friend in another state that you can call to pass on information. Local lines may be tied up but long distance could be open.
3) discuss the plan of action when an emergency arises – drop, cover and hold is the new earthquake motto. My kids and I discussed where to go in every room of the house.
4) pray and ask God to help you as prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
As for me, I decided to go through our emergency bag to make sure it was still stocked. In the bag I found clothes for children labeled 4T. I also found a bag with diapers and baby socks. Obviously I hadn’t updated this emergency kit as often as I thought. My oldest daughter is a teenager in a few weeks. I don’t think 4T is the right fit for her. My kids were cracking up that we had diapers in our emergency bag. Obviously, I removed all of the items that were too small or unnecessary for our emergency kit. They are my items to donate these past few days. Here’s a picture.

The kids then supplied me with t-shirts, socks and a jacket for the bag. I had three old, large sweatpants that were earmarked to donate, that I included too. I still need to include shoes for them. Hopefully we will never need this emergency bag, but at least we know it’s current. I’m grateful we didn’t have a true emergency, just a scary earthquake. It gave me a reminder I needed to update our bag. It also served as the content for this blog.

I also got rid of some Bisquick that expired a few years ago. I kept thinking I would use it but never did. Now I won’t because it’ll most likely make me sick. I bought this “just add water” brand when my daughter’s class had a pancake party 3 years ago. Fun party but the batter is too old now. I was checking our stock of food in the garage for emergency preparation when I found these.
Take some time and prepare your family, prepare an emergency kit and most importantly, prepare your heart by keeping it connected to God. Ultimately, He is our best emergency kit in any kind of crisis – physical or emotional. How grateful I am that I have that tool in my emergency kit.
Dream Big!