Photo by Youssef Naddam on Unsplash

We have all had it occur at some point in our marriage. Life is going along as expected and then it happens. You receive a phone call, a knock on the door or you hear a your child crying. You are immediately thrown into a crisis. You don’t know how long the crisis will last, but you do know that life will not be normal for a while.

My husband almost became an Eagle Scout – two badges shy of completing it. He regrets to this day not finishing, but in my mind he has all the benefits of this honor. I am blessed to be the recipient of his skill.

In a crisis he shines best. He says the most important thing in any emergency is not to panic. In my mind that’s easier said than done. However, being married to Tom has helped me grow in this area.

I remember a time when Tom was the one in crisis. He was the sickest I have ever known him to be and it made him delirious. I didn’t know the cause of his lethargy and I was afraid. I panicked!

A few days later when he saw his doctor we discovered it was a medicine dosing imbalance. He had made it through the worst of it and never was in danger of dying as I had feared. I told him how I had failed in handling the crisis. I even said I didn’t have the grace to walk through it (which is a contradiction to the promise God has given us in His Word.)

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 ESV

I was greatly troubled by my lack. He responded by saying, “You didn’t have the grace because there was no need. You had fear and God doesn’t give grace for fear. He calls us to repent of it.”

He was right. His words were like a soothing salve on my fearful heart. I had misapplied scripture and thought it had left me wanting. This was not true, and I was relieved.

Emergencies are a fact of life.

If you haven’t had one yet, you will. Talk about how you would handle different scenarios like fires, accidents, gas leaks or injuries. And here is a helpful tip for those of you who have a smart phone: There is a button at the bottom of your lock screen that says “emergency”. I thought that button automatically called 911 when pressed, but it doesn’t. It pulls up a list of your emergency contacts that you set up in advance. EMTs can access this information without unlocking your phone. We also have each other’s phone number listed under ICE in our contacts. It stands for “In Case of Emergency”. For more information on how to set up your smart phone click here.

In case of emergency the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared”, is good advice no matter how old you are.