Preparing Your Family for Any Situation

Hi this is Jim Daly with Focus on the Family. I will let you know about an online experience called sea life, 20, 21 in the six episode video series were sharing stories and encouragement that will inspire and empower you to live out your pro-life views will also discover valuable resources to help you step up and get involved in the cause. This is a digital experience, you and your family won't want to miss all the details are Focus on the Family.com/sea life and this is John: thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly before we get to our regularly scheduled program.

We wanted to take just a moment to remind you of an outstanding opportunity coming up tomorrow 28 August yeah who were so excited as were gearing up for RC life 2021 of that happening tomorrow in Dallas Texas over the last six weeks we've been sharing a compelling digital experience, hoping to change hearts and minds and our culture on the issue of abortion.

The video series will motivate you to have fruitful conversations about the sanctity of human life with your friends, colleagues, and extended family members and the final piece of this experience culminates in RC life 2021 event again that's happening tomorrow, Saturday, August 28 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas at 7 PM central time will be featuring Amy Ford, president of embrace grace motivational speaker Nick Boyd church and a special concert with Matthew West if you're in the Dallas area. We'd love to have you join us. It's a free event full of inspiring and encouraging pro-life messages. If you can't make it to Dallas.

Watch the live simulcast on Focus on the Family's Facebook and YouTube channels or tune in@focusonthefamily.com/sea life at 7 PM central time. This is an exciting opportunity for you and your family to celebrate and stand for life. I'm looking forward to seeing you there. If you can make it more details.

Sarath focusonthefamily.com/sea life and let's go ahead now in here today scheduled Focus on the Family broadcast have that conversation what's going to be most important to you. Let's make the decision now while our adrenaline is not going off the charts will not here for life make decisions now so that we can be able to be that help to the people who needed in the emergency vet Kathy Lipman. She joins us today on Focus on the Family and were glad you have as well is this book as president and Dr. Jim Daly and I'm John John. Emergencies can strike any of us at any time were never promised an easy life, without any worries at all if you thought that was think again you might encounter something like wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes several years ago we had a fire not her from our home and we had to do the emergency evacuation and it's surprising when you're in that moment. If you haven't thought ahead what you throw in the car to get away a lot of stress associated with that we wanted pulled stress levels down and help you, as Jim said be wise about preparing a Kathy lip is one of our favorite guess here she is a popular speaker and author and is the host of clutter free academy of the podcast with Kathy Lipman. She's written a great book will be talking about. Along the way.

It's full of ideas.

It's called ready for anything preparing your heart and home for any crisis, big or small and just click the link in the episode notes or call 800 the letter a inward family for your copy Kathy.

Welcome back to Focus on the Family. Always my favorite place to be. You stated in the book something that that I mentioned in the open.

You had fire, natural, but it wasn't wildfire. Think it was a house fire with a neighbor.

What went on, and what got your attention and that experiences years ago and my husband and I live in a townhouse with her four kids and we were both working from home that day and somebody comes knocking on our door and his screaming fire and so she we get a good way to start a great way so we grabbed the dog and head out to the grass where were standing out there and I looked two doors down and it's engulfed in flames. It was terrifying. It was just terrifying and so were standing out there and were sitting and were thinking and yet at this point, all of our kids are in college they're doing their own thing, but it was our son Jeremy's first day of school and I said to Roger Way, Jeremy came back from school today right and he said no that we would've heard him and Rogers just standing there and then suddenly my husband goes into the burning building and I'm like what are you doing about a minute later he comes out like thank God and Jeremy is behind him so he had come in late and you guys did notice some notice on my head had come in, so we are literally the people who grabbed the dog and left the kid in the burning building okay and what you want to be doing an emergency and so it was at that point we like. Yet we better plan I were standing out there all of us in our bare feet. I had my phone but we don't have a lease for the dog. You just you can't think in those moments you have to think before in order to say what happens when a crisis comes.

What do I do yeah you had a travel expense which I love about it, which is good. I I would hope that I can laugh about something as horrific as what you went through, but what happened and how did that add to the fuel for you to think about a plan yet so I was flying cross-country. I was good to be speaking at a charity event of one that's pretty near and dear to my heart and we get up in the air and it turns out we have to land in a different airport than where we were supposed to be and I need to be at this charity event. The next morning because I'm speaking for this group of people and I'm not used to being on the East Coast. I don't know how to maneuver things will every hotel room. Every rental car. Everything was gone because people who are smarter than me were making reservations in the air like I didn't know yet. So I land at this airport I end up spending the night at the airport and I put out a call to all my friends on Facebook. It's like okay how can I get from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Like how does that out of your on these because maybe you're like oh I could do that in my sleep. I'm from California like we don't do trades. That's another thing. And so somebody suggested the train D and a group of other people that spent the night at the airport we formed our own party and we we traveled over there.

We got Cooper's we get on the train and I finally get like two hours of sleep while I'm on the train. By the way, I don't have any of my luggage so the person he's picking me up for the event takes me to target and I get together. I know you've done the house at Walmart. Do you know the minute were always yeah exactly. I show up.

I do the event on no sleep and then I'm flying out the next day and my flights been canceled and the person who is the agent agent before recipient of all this. Thanks. I just start cracking up like I mean what else are you going to do at this point I it's so easy to get angry about.

But this is not in her control, and I just start laughing and Jesus, why are you laughing and I said I came here to speak to the church and I told her everything she goes well, that's why you're getting all this opposition because your preacher and this woman gave me a sermon right there at the ticket counter and she encouraged me and she says you know what this is to be a story that your to use about God's provision for years to come in here I am on Focus on the Family and by the way those agents for agents got together all of the believers are working to get you home to get you back to your husband now. It took about a day and 1/2, but I got home I was one of the few people that we get to actually get home. It's so funny. I remember when I was first hired at FOCUS in 1989 I was on a training trip with somebody and we got to the rental car counter and they had lost the reservation and so were there in this colleague was very upset to go on at the agent talk about United being out of your control. I'm kinda quiet because I'm a newbie writing I'm just listening. Now this goes in the agent goes all you work for Focus on the Family.

I love that right this first of all thank you for listening yet so do you have a Volkswagen. It was so funny. But you know what what what are tools in that situation we can if we get angry we lessen the amount of tools we have. But will we approach a situation like that believing in God's abundance, believing that you know if we pray we show up were trying to serve the people who are trying to serve us, we can actually get a lot farther in these emergency situations. I like that reminder that these are things that are out of your control. There out of usually out of that service person control actually and it's so much nicer to respond of the spirit than the flesh. Yeah, but it really does test your mettle will and I'll know about you but when I'm tired or hot or hot yeah breathing all things that need not be my best but I can remember I get to choose my attitude and I Kathy you I love the fact that you do this incrementally.

This awareness so it's not just one instance like the house fire and no standing out on the lawn with a 40 pound dog and wondering where your son is other things that contributed to this idea that you need to be prepared. So in that bill, but the also the vacation that went awry 16 – six yeah we were we. It was my 50th birthday.

We were doing a long trip and we decided we wanted to test some of our readiness so bringing our giant suitcases to be prepared for absolutely everything we said okay how little can we bring and still yet make this enjoyable and I started to research like how do your laundry without a washing machine and it the number one supplier of that information are some very scary doomsday prep sites and I'm like okay I'm not down with that but it started to open me up to you know this is not an if situation if the wind were all going to approach crisis in our lives and I think a lot of people don't want to prepare because to prepare for every circumstances overwhelming and will often say all trust God.

But I think so much of what we see in God's word is to have wisdom so that's the approach I want to take is, how do I have wisdom and was commissioned because some would put that in the faith category right you know, modern conveniences just have faith in God that things continue to roll and I don't need extra water. I don't need that right in the garage take care of yeah I would encourage you to talk to somebody who's been through a crisis. And the question is for those that thinking and maybe don't have the discipline. Let's face up to it takes some thinking and some planning and some doing yet do this, how does a person may not become overwhelmed at the task and what's enough yeah okay so let's just start off with.

I have never been known as somebody who is super disciplined anything I've learned about organization in preparing it's against my nature. It really yes, but I see the need for itself. One of things I would say is to start off very small so I would encourage everybody who's listening. Could you within the next month. Get 10 gallons of water together hundred one dollar bills and come up with a five minute plan. What I mean.

With a five minute plan is hey what will we do within the first five minutes of a fire.

What would we do within the first five minutes, where I live in California have an earthquake.

It seems like a weird topic but here's the thing. It was so freaking to have a plan that was written downright. That's good. This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly and I'm John Fuller. Our guest today is Kathy Lipp and were talking about being ready for what ever might come our way. Kathy is captured so many great ideas about doing this in her book ready for anything preparing your heart and home for any crisis, big or small, just check the episode notes for all the details to get your copy Kathy.

I like that that's easy 10 gallons water. I think we might have that in the laundry room may be distilled yeah, but what you just what distilled water on special toilet 10 20 water when there is an emergency, the other the next phase of the one know why the $100. So it's never bad to have extra money on hand right right and then also I we all have apps on your phone that hopefully will be able to use if we need to pay somebody for something, but in places cash is king. And so if you need to end this is just the start of what you're saving up you know I want you to start with $100 actually hundred one, 101s yet because you somebody might not be able to make change and yet say they can't make it. Now write nowhere an emergency with every place I go please use exact change. Also, I was on the trip in Northern California were all the power went out for three days and they couldn't accept our debit card. They couldn't accept our credit card. We couldn't even pump gas and so the cash we had on hand, was really important to us. Yeah. So having that on hand. Water is always a good thing to have on hand and then that little plan not toilet water. Sorry if you need to flush the toilet. Your water becomes toilet water. Yes. Okay. Was move on.

Okay 323 plan, which I think is a little more extensive a little more ambitious. What 323C would have a three day go back so that's three days of water, food, close, if you need to leave your house, grab that bag as the backpackers right exactly and you can keep in your car during like with us with high heightened fire season. We keep it in our car, so that's three days then two weeks of being at home without being able to get outside resources so you make sure that you have two weeks worth of water for everybody in your family. Two weeks worth of food two weeks worth of everything and then three months of financial yellow backup so if there is a job loss or there's a crisis and I wrote all of this book before we had a pandemic and people are like, really. Do you need to weeks were the toilet paper and I felt like that was my prophetic voice is due by the way you do. That's good. Let's talk about that three day bag because that when you know that that could be a log. If you think about water for yeah well that water, food, toiletry items eventually list in the book and on the website of exactly what you need.

Hopefully you're leaving by car. That's the whole. And so that's not to be too much, but at least get your clothing together.

You need minimal clothing, but you know three days worth of fresh underwear is good to be good for anybody get some dried food in there that can last for a while and make sure you think about your pets to any pets that your to be bringing along yeah they need their bowl.

They need their lease they need their water. They neither can food so yeah it does take a little bit to think about isn't that overwhelming when you start to get it together.

You know Kathy experiences a great teacher here in Colorado Springs. We had two big fires, almost back to back different years, but close together. I think over thousand homes were lost in the two fires and one was the black forest fire, the one that we had to evacuate my people died because they were getting their stuff right you know, and there you know the irony with a fire like that is there is some time to make some decisions and this one person went and got U-Haul and started loading the furniture and everything in by the time they were ready to leave the fire. It really collapsed around the house and then went to start the truck and there is no oxygen in their rise of the engine couldn't start and then had to flee by foot. Another elderly couple died in the garage. Both of them right near the cars they were loading it. So speak to the spiritual dimension of this nothing like that is worth your life. No possession with your life. No, this is why you have the bag. I want people to get that together because your medications your communications with your loved one, but nothing is worth your life. Nothing.

And the idea of loading U-Haul with your couch in the middle of a fire in the middle of the fire and let's just admit we make bad decisions in the midst of a crisis. And so I think it is worth praying about is worth planning to say what do we do in the circumstances. What are our priorities, like if you run into a burning building for photos of your grandparents that needs to be something that you've thought about. First, you don't need to be looking for those things and you have to realize this is why I want people to prepare, because I want to live without regret. You do you need to scan those photos. It is the spiritual posture to say my job is not just to protect myself but my job is to protect my neighbor and nothing in my house is worth either my life or my neighbors life.

So let's prioritize those and let's be the hands and feet of Christ in the midst of a crisis. Let's go through a couple of others that you mention the extra money. What about the emergency binder. Yes, our getting into wow this is really taken some time yeah okay good thing okay so if when I had kids. I had a binder for the delay just by the way the title just II don't yeah are you so when when somebody would come and be at the house like here are the important things you need to know and it's all a history of like who would you call in a crisis and I also I know anybody's phone number except for my husband's remember the following used to know everybody's phone remembers these yeah exactly. So I have those numbers written down.

I have our emergency response numbers.

All of those kind of things in that binder.

Yeah, it's better to have it and never need it than to not have it when you want things you and I did a kind of a gray grab box that has our stuff in it for good car title insurance information, those things that are so hard to place we haven't done a fireproof box again but that would be the next grab scans of those on the cloud great and we haven't done that you just slide them through and your set or even just taking pictures of them will help you in a crisis. I want to come back to the decluttering, as you know where talk about it in the kind of a different context. Why is it important to de-clutter in the event of an emergency and you can only imagine it's free so I have absolutely will first of all, for some people is just the physicality of getting out of the house.

I mean really you seriously. I've dealt with clients like that. The other thing is you need to know where your stuff is like in emergency. Do you know where your backup medications are. Do you know where your cell phone is being I'm just having a place for everything and everything in its place.

It sounds so kindergarten but it's so important and you will like you said when you're grabbing things or we've had people have to go into homes to recover things for other people to know where those items are is very very important.

It's fascinating when you for Gina and I going through that experience of having to evacuate due to wildfire right you know I was actually coming back from a trip so I'm coming in. Yeah, Jean's been working all day because we had to pry the morning we had the evacuation notice and then we had about eight hours. I think where to leave at 5 PM when my goal yeah and so I showed up and you know it's everything you put into a car. Basically, yeah. And so I you and I get there about 4 o'clock and I'm looking at what Jean is put.

It was awesome that she did that and she had to do it on her own, which may be filled bad.

Actually yeah but then I start looking and I found this candelabra that was still in the box and I pulled it out and said, were we putting this in their civil just came in the mail. It's the same. Yeah, I think insurance will take care of this so I put it back, but it is you have to have kind of an idea of what you want to stuff into your car when you have to go right and that is the plan having that list ahead of time so important and one thing I hear you both saying is talk about it with your spouse with your family. So there's not negotiating in duress when you're stressed out that's not the time to start saying but Jim, that's an heirloom item and I had said you don't have that conversation right you know and you know it's fire season around our house when the cage is out for the chickens. The cat carriers out you know it's like to think about those things in advance. You don't have to go digging through your garage to be able to find those things you know in a crisis that Kathy one thing you suggest repeatedly throughout the book is that in being prepared ourselves were in a position to help others your neighbor, you mentioned that a couple times already. What is it look like practically, yeah.

So when we lived in San Jose. Our neighbor was somebody who is in her 80s. She's just she's lives by herself.

And as we thought about being prepared. We thought about. We wouldn't deny her our food, we wouldn't deny her our water.

Of course, so we prepared for us, plus her because we knew that you know that would be somebody that we would need to be taken care of. And to think about it like with now that we live in the mountains, caring for our neighbor looks very different.

We are part of the Omo Ranch fire safety Council and we meet once a month and people think it's overkill but we live in Northern California and if you watch the news at all you know that we are a tender box up there and so we get a lot of experience like what happens in an emergency.

How do we make sure that everybody's accounted for. How do we make sure that roads are taking care of. So you need to figure out what your neighbor situation looks like and say how do I care for my neighbor for us. It was also exchanging keys with another couple that if they had an emergency I could come stay at our house, no questions asked and back to them. So we made sure that everybody had the codes and everything to know that you have a soft place to land on the hardest day of your life is a gift that's a good statement right at the end here. Kathy talk to the person who's listening and thinking you know this is really important.

I haven't done a thing right. Haven't thought about it, you know now modernity hasn't really alerted me that I need to write think about an emergency like this. What are the simple things they should do right from the get-go. A good starting place.

Yeah so I would just I would reiterate the hundred one dollar bills, so every time you go the store could you get five dollars out you would start stacking that up.

Get your water supply. Water is your most precious resource in many, many emergencies and then have a conversation with you, whether it's a husband or a wife or maybe it's your roommate or you know, in our case, my mom it we are charged with her care have that conversation what's going to be most important to you. Let's make the decisions now while our adrenaline is not going off the charts well were not in fear for her life.

Let's make decisions now so that we can be able to be that help to the people who need it in the emergency. I like that so much and again there's lots of spiritual application you're taking care of neighbor loving your neighbor wisdom all that's okay. This is been so great as it always is member D clutter of everything are the only sure that I always cringe when you're here in the garage know that the garage is in pretty good shape. Now it's the closet I got my part of the closet so because that's always a good heavy. Thank you so much thinking… This message is so important to me and I'm so glad to be able to share some good starting point significantly going to the doctors not what we want to do. Can I just tell you every time you walk into your pantry and you see a little bit of food stored up. You see your emergency bag by the front door you can be proud of yourself and that's a good feel that's good and that, let me turn you the listener.

This is a resource you really need very practical.

And again, Jean, and I've lived through it. John, you have done something similar so it may happen to you in your life or you need that emergency plan you need that emergency kit you need the extra dollars it, there's no downside to preparing, and that if you never encounter a problem like were talking about. Then that's wonderful. But if you do and you're not ready.

That's a disaster. So do get a copy of Kathy's book from us right here Focus on the Family and when you make a gift of any amount will send it to you as our way of saying thank you for joining the ministry you be a part of the support team make programs like this.

Possible resources online. We have so much for you donate today a monthly pledge or one-time gift are numbers 800-232-6459 were stop by the episode notes for details will have a great weekend and if you can join us in Dallas or watch online sea life 2021 is tomorrow and on Monday sure to be back with us as we hear from Amy Ford who will inspire you to live out your pro-life beliefs.

The vacation is a girl doesn't actually feel like it's a safe place to go to when she has an expected pregnancy. The church is not the first thing that crosses your mind like I need help with church and ask if they'll help me on behalf of Jim Daly and the entire team. Thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family I'm John Fuller inviting you back once again help you and your family thrives in Christ