In case of emergency- Break seal

Last night I spoke at a Moms Group.   A dear friend of mine, who usually leads the group, is going through a very difficult time.  Her husband is facing a serious illness and she needed to be with him, so I stepped in to lead the Moms Group.  Her situation got me thinking about who I would call to handle different things when I was in crisis… and that is where my inspiration came from for the following project.

“We need our girlfriends.  Scripture says two are better than one.  We are instructed to love, pray for, care about, accept, forgive, serve, encourage, and build up one another.    People need each other!  No matter how much we insist we don’t.   Nobody is an island, an entity unto herself, or a Lone Ranger.  We are in this thing called community and part of the joy of community is sharing the weight.  The weight of burdens, losses, loneliness, and fear.” ~Luci Swindoll

Sometimes we as women, think we can do it all ourselves.  We don’t want to burden our friends with our worries so we try to take care of everything. We try to be the Lone Ranger and hop on our horse and take care of business… but you know what??? Even the Lone Ranger had a side kick!  There are times when we simply need to turn to a friend and say “Help Me!”  Help me cry, help me pray, help me eat chocolate, help me drink a margarita, help me.

So here’s what we did last night. We created an SOS – Break Open In Case of Emergency Kit!

I want you to think about if you were going through an emergency, a crisis, who could you call?  Who do you depend on?  Where can you turn? I passed around 5×7 pieces of paper in various colors and asked each of the ladies to pick a paper that cheers them up.

PART ONE: On the front side of the page, brainstorm  a list of who you would call during a difficult time.  Here are some examples:

• Who can I call in the middle of the night?
• Who can I call who will bring me chocolate/wine/nachos…etc?
• Who can I call when I need to cry?
• When I need to yell?
• Who will always listen to me?
• Who can I call for advice?
• Who can I call when I need $?
• Who can I call to pray with me?
• Who can I call to bring me dinner?
• Who can  I call to make me laugh?

Look around you my friend.  Who is there for you?  God places people in our lives to support us, help us, be with us.  Galations 6:2 says “Carry each other’s burdes, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Remember that the secret of friendship is that we bless each other.  We are not alone!  Fill out your yellow pages of support and keep handy for the next time you feel alone, or desperate, or in need.  Know that there are people in your life who are there for you.  Allow them to ride with you on your journey and give you the support you need.

PART TWO: Once you get your list together, I want you to flip the paper over to the other side and I want you to make a Gratitude List.  On this list, spend about 5 minutes just free thinking of things you are grateful for and write them down.  Big things and little things.  People, places and things you are grateful for.

Don’t edit yourself, just keep writing for a full 5 miutes.  Fill the page if you can.  Nothing is too small or too large.  Where do your blessings come from?  What are you most grateful for – i.e. not having to shave legs every day in winter…(a favorite of mine! ha) or being grateful for cherries on the top of a sundae because it’s so cheerful…like I said, don’t edit yourself ~just write.

Part Three:fold your paper in half and put it in an envelope.  Seal the envelope and write on the front SOS – OPEN IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. Maybe add stickers, or color it, or put a scripture on front.  Now take your envlope and put it somewhere you can find it later.  Underneath your jammies in your drawer, behind the cereal boxes in the pantry, in your recipe box, underneath your keyboard in your computer room…just find a spot to put it away for now.

The next time you find yourself in a place where you feel alone, or life seems out of control – open up your SOS envelope and see who you can call, and see what you have to be thankful for, and see that you are loved, and see that you are not alone.