Once upon a time, I was at K-mart with three small children in tow, ages 5 and under. I was spending more time instrucing the children on how to behave in the store than I was actually shopping, and was becoming frazzled.
A woman I had known from church since I was a teenager happened to be at the store and saw my plight. I had always known her to be kind, cheerful and caring, and never critical, which may have colored the experience. Her own children were older than mine and in a much different stage of life, but she had obviously been there with the preschooler and toddler stage. She came up to me and remarked that although it seemed like this stage would last forever, it would really be over in a moment, and I would miss having small children. In that moment, I felt an overwhelming witness that she was right, that this was but a small moment in time, and that I would miss having those small children to tangle with.
I took a "mind picture" on that day, at that moment, and it has stayed with me over the years.
I am so glad that she took the chance and shared with me that day.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness Class
Floyd Michael and I attended an earthquake and emergency preparedness class this weekend at Honeyville Grain in Rancho Cucamonga. It was taught by Linda from Just In Case Emergency Essentials. The class was really fantastic. I learned so much. Floyd Michael knew a lot of the information ahead of time, but much of it was new to me. Linda was an excellent instructor. Floyd Michael and I will definitely be attending more of her classes in the future. We had already decided to get CERT training, and this only reaffirmed that this is something we really want to do.
Historically, I have tended to bury my head in the sand, thinking I could never do enough and that preparedness seemed totally overwhelming.
After the tsunami in Japan, Destiny and I had some conversations about...what if it was our family. What if we didn't know where our family members were, whether they had survived, how to find them? Once we put J's name into the equation, the situation was magnified and brought home forcefully.
Maybe what we can do will never be enough. Certainly there are cases where that is true. But what if our preparations could have saved our family members, neighbors or community and we had failed to prepare?
Luckily, Floyd Michael and I are totally on the same page with this. As with everything, we each have our own areas of particular interest and knowledge, and we tend to complement one another. We have enjoyed learning and preparing over the past several months. This class was just the right class at the right time for us. Very good stuff.
Historically, I have tended to bury my head in the sand, thinking I could never do enough and that preparedness seemed totally overwhelming.
After the tsunami in Japan, Destiny and I had some conversations about...what if it was our family. What if we didn't know where our family members were, whether they had survived, how to find them? Once we put J's name into the equation, the situation was magnified and brought home forcefully.
Maybe what we can do will never be enough. Certainly there are cases where that is true. But what if our preparations could have saved our family members, neighbors or community and we had failed to prepare?
Luckily, Floyd Michael and I are totally on the same page with this. As with everything, we each have our own areas of particular interest and knowledge, and we tend to complement one another. We have enjoyed learning and preparing over the past several months. This class was just the right class at the right time for us. Very good stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)