Matthew 25:3-4 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
Getting ready for a hurricane was something I grew up knowing how to do. My first was Carla in 1961, but even before that one, my family kept an annual hurricane map on the refrigerator door and marked the progress of every storm.
We stocked up on batteries and bread, located matches and candles, and filled the bathtub with water for reasons I couldn’t fathom at the time. And then we hunkered down. We watched the TV news as long as we could, and then when the power went out, we turned on the transistor radio or squeezed into the front seat of the Plymouth to listen to the radio in the garage.
I also prepared for Carla by tying our small oak tree to the street sign on the corner—with string. Both the tree and the sign came through the storm just fine, and I imagined it was thanks to me. My parents thought my effort cute. Fortunately, they were wise enough to focus on what mattered, like the fresh water in the bathtub.
MOVING FORWARD: Does your family have an emergency response kit? If not, consider doing some research and creating one this week.
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