What Matters Most?

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Well this week, my turn came.  A fire broke out on the mountain just up from my house.  I knew it was close and that it was burning fast.  I could see the billowing smoke from my back yard.  My husband and I had discussed a few times what things we might consider packing up if we had any fires and had to be evacuated.  The afternoon the fire started, my Mom called and told me to start packing things up because it was very close.  My kids were at the neighbor’s house playing and my baby was asleep, so I took some time to compose myself from the puddle I felt like melting into and started planning and thinking about what mattered most in my home.  There is a big difference between valuable and irreplaceable.

If you had to go through your whole house and take only what would fit into your car, what would it be? What would be of the most importance to you?

Here is what mattered most to our family:

Photo albums
Family history- old photos and journals, family records
Important documents- social security cards, passports, tax records, insurance policies
Computer and hard drive
Phone and charger
Clothes for a few days
Kids favorite blankets or stuffed animals
Diapers
Snacks
My husband’s guns
Toiletries
My homeschool books!!
A few small toys or books for kids
First aid kit

After I gathered all of the things that I felt were important, I calmly went to get my children.  I told them that I wanted them home with me and that we had some things to do.  I didn’t want to scare them or alarm them.  When they came home, I told them that we needed to pack up our favorite things- but there is hardly any room, so they couldn’t take much.  My son ran to get the Wii, my daughter got her Strawberry Shortcake dolls and her favorite blankie.

When my husband came home from work that evening, he, too went through the house to see what more we would take from our home.  The interesting thing was that I was ok with walking away from a house full of things.  I knew that my family would be safe and that whatever happened we would be provided for by family and by the Lord.  I felt detatched from material things and cared only for those that I loved.  It was truly a wake up for me.  It really made me realize what matters in this world.

We did not end up having to evacuate, and were incredibly blessed to get rain (this was truly a miracle since we haven’t had rain for 2 months) to help quench the quickly burning fire after 2 days of 0% containment.