Orderly Home = Prepared Home!
Most of us do not want to live in a museum-like home where everything is perfectly on display all of the time. We have families, demands, stresses and things we all love to do instead of constantly cleaning, straightening and organizing. We want to live in our homes! That is how it should be. However, there is a level of organization in your home that is necessary if you want to succeed at overcoming every level of the unexpected from the ‘speed bumps’ to the ‘Mount Everests’ of life. We all have them and by maintaining a home that fits the scriptural admonition “organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing,” we will find ourselves if not sailing past those challenges, at least not compounding them.
Give yourself the following quiz and see if there aren’t areas that you could improve on:
1. Can everyone in your home locate their shoes, basic clothing, coats, hats and gloves within 60 seconds?
2. Does everyone except for the youngest children know where the 72 hour kits are?
3. Can you quickly locate important documents, phone numbers, financial information and your “What If” notebook?
4. Can you traverse your house in the dark without tripping over toys, shoes and assorted ‘stuff’ left in pathways?
5. Are your fire and carbon monoxide detectors working? Do you replace batteries when daylight savings time begins and ends? General Conference is also a good weekend to do this.
6. Can those with licenses old locate a spare set of keys for every car you own?
7. Can everyone above 5 locate a healthy snack or meal without cooking? Do you keep quick to prepare meals on hand?
8. Do you replace staples like milk, bread and eggs before you run out?
9. Do you know who your home teachers are? Your visiting teachers?
10. Are medications and other potentially hazardous items out of the reach of children?
11. Do you refill your prescriptions before they run out?
12. Do you have regular check ups? Do your children?
13. Do you have emergency numbers including poison control posted?
14. Do you maintain a first aid kid and basic over the counter remedies?
15. Do you keep the laundry caught up enough that everyone has at least 3 clean changes of clothing?
16. Do you perform regular maintenance on your home and car?
17. Are your stairways free from clutter?
18. Do you maintain supplies of paper goods, toilet paper, sanitary needs, diapers and other daily necessities?
There is much more that could be covered. The list is probably endless, but the goal is the same: Be Prepared!
