I have worked with youth for over two decades now. I planned retreats, missions trips, events. I have lived and worked with students, and I always tried to plan for worst case scenarios. I hated thinking about what could happen, but it was always my goal to be prepared for a crisis.
I taught a course on Spiritual Disciplines with Development Associates International. I had practiced all the disciplines but one . . . I had worked on prayer and meditation, service and solitude, but the final discipline surprised me . . . preparing for adversity and crisis. It is a discipline that is not appealing, but one that, little by little, Andrew and I are choosing to face.
One of our “words” is foundations. This word has multiple meanings to us, one of them is that we want to be sure that we pay attention to preparing for security in the day to day and in crisis. So this week we thought we would highlight a couple of those steps that we are taking.
This picture is of Andrew’s parent’s home in 2007. It was taken by a bystander and appeared in the local paper. The source of the house fire is undetermined. What a reminder to us that any day everything can change. We are so grateful that Andrew’s parents were not home and were both safe. Today the home is in even better condition than it was before the fire. We are grateful.
One little goal this inspired was that we would purchase a firebox, a little fire and water resistant box to keep important documents that we would want to be safe in case of fire. We did some research online and thought about a safety deposit box, but decided that a fire safe would be best for us.
Two reasons that a fire safe seemed like a wise investment: it is a one time purchase and because, unlike a safety deposit box, it is more accessible. If someone dies a safety deposit box may be sealed for weeks.
Here are things that we considered putting in our fire safe box:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificate
- Passports
- Social Security Cards
- Copy of health information
- College degrees and Certificates
- Wills
- Insurance
Other Suggested Items
- Stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit.
- Original deeds to property and vehicles.
- Rare jewels or family jewelry.
- A list of bank and credit card account numbers
- Copies of prescriptions for life-supporting medications
- Spare keys to your car
- Videotape/DVD/thumb drive inventory of house.
- Receipts for big-ticket items like furnishings
We now have a fire proof safe. Our prayer is that we don’t need it. But we are choosing to prepare together for what might be around the corner. It helps us feel like our foundation is a little more secure.