prepare!

Our church small group has decided to sell those rubberband bracelets to raise money for Voice of the Martyrs. They're $3, silver with black writing and say "Pray for China" in English and Chinese. Funds support persecuted Christians overseas. Yesterday at church I was given five to find homes for. If you're interested, leave a comment or email me..... It can be your good deed for the day.

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Other notable happenings:
- attended two birthday parties and a wedding this weekend
- chalk contest at the beach in two weeks
- still no clue what we're drawing
- At one of the birthday parties, Sophia and I did temporary tattoos and facepaint for the kids... something of a warm-up for her family reunion this coming Sunday
- visiting Camp Joy (for homeless kids) in two weeks!! :)
- it's been recommended that I read a book called "Twilight". Anyone read it? Is it good? I need to resurrect my library card
- I'm really starting to loathe the sound of a ringing phone

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Every Monday Matters!

Did anyone else sign up for Amber Alerts last week?

This week... prepare for an emergency.

To me, this is challenging. There are so many possible emergencies, and it's impossible to predict when, where, and how it could happen. I guess having supplies at home and in the car is a good idea?

- develop a family communication plan, and select a family member outside of the area to call during an emergency to be a central information point.
- MEMORIZE phone numbers. Thanks to cell phones, we don't normally do this. However, if I don't have my phone or laptop, I couldn't tell you how to reach my parents or sisters. I'm thinking I need to fix that. Also, think about coins for a payphone or a phone card, since cell phones get jammed with high call volume. (We witnessed this after the earthquake the other day- and that wasn't even a disaster. We couldn't use cell phones for at least an hour or more, just because EVERYONE gets on the phone after a quake).

-Designate a meeting location, and a back-up plan B

- Create an emergency supply kit to carry you through three days. Here's one website with suggestions: http://www.ehow.com/how_4449709_put-together-travel-emergency-kit.html Also, check out the camping section at Wal*Mart or Target for useful supplies. I'm going to make a kit for my car, i think. I'll post details when it's done.

We don't know what the future holds. But I bet these folks wished THEY were prepared (fast forward about 50 seconds to the good part): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxJi-si5FRY

(I can't figure out how to put the youtube video in the darn blog... arrgh. Just click it)