Role Models of America

Hurricanes and Emergencies for Seniors

Hurricane and Emergency Preparedness 

Planning for emergencies, like a hurricane is an important thing to do for anyone, but is especially crucial when involving seniors.  In many cases, it may take longer for seniors needing to evacuate or respond to an emergency and they may not be equipped to do so without assistance.  Having a set plan that all parties (seniors, children, caregivers, etc.) can refer to is not only helpful, it can save a life.  

 

If your senior loved one lives alone, here are some tips to help make sure they are prepared for a hurricane or other emergency:

 

1)      Have an Elder/Caregiver Resource Guide or other document that includes all of one’s information in one place, such as their: health, medical and legal information, and the contact information of family members and close friends.  This way, they can quickly access any of this information during an emergency and have it with them if evacuation is needed.

2)      Keep a supply of items they might need, such as liquids, disposable adult diapers, and cash somewhere readily accessible in case of emergency.

3)      Make sure identification is on their person, especially if the individual is easily confused.

 

Questions for senior loved ones living in a senior living community:

 

If you have a parent or relative who lives in a senior assisted or independent living community or is looking into one, there are a few items you should be sure to ask them/make sure you have information about when it comes to hurricane and emergency preparedness.  Asking these simple questions below can play an important role in the safety of your senior loved one. 

 

1)      Is the community prepared with a hurricane or emergency plan in case one occurs?

2)      Are there any fees associated with evacuation or other necessary course of action during a hurricane and/or other emergency?

3)      Can families or pets evacuate with loved ones?

4)      Where is the evacuation site located and what will be provided for the residents when they arrive (items such as: toiletries, bedding, etc.)?

    

To keep your elder loved ones safe this hurricane season, have a conversation with them to make sure they are prepared in case such an emergency does occur.       

 

 

I Don't Want to Raise Successful Children - Moms Against Hunger

Lysa TerKeurst

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

I don't want to raise successful children. That's a shocking thing to read, and a shocking thing for a mother to type. So, let me clarify.

I used to define success according to my child's report card. Good grades and academic achievement would surely equal a good child with great potential in this world. But then several of my children wound up being average students with average grades. Though we carted them off to tutors and spent many a late night at the kitchen table helping them, they remained average. And I remained concerned and frustrated.

One report card day I found myself facedown in the fibers of my carpet crying and wondering, "Where have I gone wrong as a mom?"

I dug into Scriptures. I begged God for wisdom and discernment. I prayed for God's perspective with each of my kids. Finally, one day it dawned on me - what if I simply chose to embrace the natural bent of each of my kids as God's way to protect them and keep them on the path toward His best plans for their lives?

What if my A student needs academic success to prepare her for God's plans while my average to below-average student needs to be steered away from a more academic future? What if my sports star kid needs that athletic excellence for his future assignments by God, but my benchwarmer kid is being protected from getting off course by her lack in this area?

And that's when it finally dawned on me. My job isn't to push success for my kids. My job as a parent is to recognize the unique way God created each child and point them to Jesus at every turn along their journey toward adulthood. Yes, I wan t my kids to learn and thrive and grow up educated, but it's not a flaw in me or them if they don't have straight A report cards and trophy cases full of sports medals.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV).

I am challenged to ponder these words, "… in the way he should go." Are we training our kids that the "way he should go" is to chase worldly achievement or to chase God? Whatever they learn to chase as a child, they will chase as adults. Therefore, we must be challenged to honestly assess the way we are pointing them to go.

My daughter, Hope, is one of my average students. She has also warmed many a bench in the sports she's tried, and can always be found hiding on the back row of the stage during school concerts. Using the world's benchmarks for achievement, Hope wouldn't be seen as a child positioned for success. But God…

This past January, my 15 year old Hope, shocked me when she announced she wanted to go to Ethiopia with some missionary friends of ours and live in the remote African bush for the summer. Yes, she may not have trophies and straight A report cards but she does have a heart of gold. And because she's not entrenched in sports and academic pursuits that could have created obligations for her summer, she was free to go to Africa. Free to chase God in a really big way.

One of the first e-mails she sent me from Ethiopia read, "Mom, I've fallen in love with the AIDS orphanage children. They rushed at me when I held my arms out and I tried with all my might to hold all 30 of them at once. I love it here."

Now, don't get me wrong. I do expect Hope to return to her studies this fall, give 100% effort, and finish her high school career having done her very best. She will most likely then go to college. But she probably won't be delivering the valedictorian address or wearing the honors cords and medals. She'll be the one with a vision of a dying AIDS orphan pressing against her heart ready to chase God's plans to the ends of the earth.

So back to my original statement, I don't want to raise successful children. It's true, I don't. Though Hope's sister coming behind her is an A student and can always be found on the front row of school performances - we don't chase after success for her either. I trust God that she needs those things in her life for the plans He's unfolding in her life. We train with that bent in mind. But, we don't chase it. Just like Hope, we point her in the direction of God at every turn and pray like crazy.

I stand by what I said and I'll say it again, I don't want to raise successful children. Because--- raising God-honoring adults who will set the world on fire for Christ is just so much more rewarding.

Dear Lord, being a mom is a really tough job. Please help me, teach me and show me how to define success for my kids. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

 

Reality Sets In

 From Cinderella’s perspective, she has three problems in life. A stepmother, named Lady Tremaine and two step-sisters, Anastasia and Drizella. Never mind that Cinderella’s biological parents are not on the scene, we assume they died because real parents don’t abandon their children at least that is our concept, only where was the extended family that would have swept in to care for their granddaughter, niece or cousin? Our questions remain unanswered. The only thing we know for sure is that somehow the universe has been very cruel to Cinderella.

 

That is probably the only truth for which we can be sure of. 

Cinderella has been given a raw deal. For whatever reason her mom was gone first. If you haven’t been a product of a divorced family then your perspective is limited but you can be sure that losing a mother or father in death or divorce is traumatic for a child. Compound that with a remarriage and the child gets the idea that people can be replaced. That isn’t such an easy concept to swallow when you’re a child because while the adults are thinking in terms of adults and romantic love, of failure and loss, a child is thinking that they themselves can be replaced, that maybe love isn’t forever, foundations are not really set and maybe down the road they will be put away for another.

 

You see, as adults we have a bit more understanding about love but children are limited in their understanding. All they know is they have a mom and dad and they don’t want or need another.  Only they’re children and they don’t get a choice. The choice is made for them and they are told they have to like it and get along. Well, let’s be real, that’s not so easy.

 

So the kids come with baggage of resentment and loss, of misunderstandings and misgivings and it’s all perfectly normal, only it certainly puts a wedge in adult plans doesn’t it? Walls quickly go up, feelings get hurt and trampled on all the way around. and well, we won’t even discuss the guilt the biological parent feels as they get caught in a trap of being in the middle of a war they call home. 

Reality sets in and it’s not usually pretty.

 

All camps begin to pull in opposite directions and territorial lines begin to be drawn. Any upset in a plan or ideal becomes a major deal and the fight is on. Parents pull for their own child and loyalties rise. Fights ensue among the newlyweds as both feel torn between their love for their child and the love for their new spouse.  The children complain as they are shuffled from house to house and suddenly houses are fighting because they hear, as we did, only Cinderella’s side of the tail and it looks dark and dismal.

 

For a stepmom her challenge is difficult, and I dare say, even more than a stepdad’s challenge because a mother is called to calm and influence her home. She is the peace in a normal house and suddenly all fingers are pointed in her direction, not only from the camps within her home but society at large who faults her because people are not happy under her care. What she does next will be critical for the survival of her marriage and her family.

Susan Young

  =

We Believe

Statement of Fundamental Truths

 

    We believe in the complete and entire Divine Inspiration of the Holy Bible; the creation of man by the direct action of Jehovah God; the incarnation and virgin birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God; His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross; His literal physical death and His bodily resurrection from the tomb; His power to save men from their sin; the adoption into the family of God through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit; and the gift of eternal life by the grace of God.

    We accept the Bible as our all sufficient rule of faith and practice. Therefore this Statement of Fundamental Truths is intended only as a basis of ministerial alliance among us in order that we might all speak the same things. ( I Corinthians 1:10; Acts 2:42) The human phraseology which is employed in this Statement of Fundamentals Truths is not divinely inspired, the truths set forth  are held to be essential to a fundamental, full gospel ministry. No claim is made that it contains all the truth in the Bible, but that it covers our present needs regarding these fundamental matters.

The Scriptures Inspired

    The Bible is the inspired word of God, a revelation from God to man. It is the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, while not being contrary to reason. ( II Timothy 3:15-16, II Peter 1:1; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12)

The One True God

    The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self existent, self revealed “I Am”; and has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association, ie., as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; Isaiah 43:10; Matthew 28:19, Luke 3:22)

Man, His Fall, and Redemption

    Man was created good and perfect; for God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But man, by voluntary transgression fell, and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:26-31; 3:1-17; Romans 5:12-21)

The Salvation of Man

    The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to men, through the preaching of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Man is therefore saved by the washing of the regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, and being justified by grace through faith of both God and man, he becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life. ( Titus 2:11; 3:5-7; Romans 10:8-15; Luke 24:47)  The inward evidence to the believer of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness through the gift of grace by our Lord Jesus Christ and true holiness.

Baptism in Water

    The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Bible by all who have truly repented and in their hearts have really believed in Christ as Saviour and Lord. In so doing, they have the body washed in water as an outward sign or symbol of cleansing as well as the circumcision of the heart, while their hearts have already been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ as an inner cleansing. Thus, they proclaim to the world that they have died and buried with Christ to sin, and that they have also been raised with Him to live and walk in the newness of life. ( Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 10:47-48; Romans 6:4; Hebrews 10:22)

The Lord’s Supper

    The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Peter 1:4); a memorial of His suffering and death ( I Corinthians 11:26) and is commended to all believers as such a sign until He returns.

Sanctification

    The Scriptures teach a life of holiness without which no man can see the Lord.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command, “Be ye holy, as I am holy.” Sanctification is the will of God for all believers and should be earnestly be pursued by walking in obedience to God’s word. (Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1: 15-16; I Thessalonians 5: 22-24; I John 2:6)

The Church

    The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with Divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer is an integral part of that general assembly and the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in Heaven. (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23)

Ministry and Evangelism

    A divinely called and scripturally appointed and ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for a two-fold purpose: (1) The evangelization of the world and (2) the edifying of the Body of Christ. ( Mark 16:15-20; Ephesians 4:11-13)

Divine Healing

    Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, just as is salvation from sin. (Isaiah 53:45; Matthew 8:16-17; James 5:14-16)

The Blessed Hope

    The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remaining unto the day of the coming of the Lord is the imminent and the blessed hope of the Church. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Romans 8:2; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 15:51-52)

The Millennial Reign of the Jesus Christ

    The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven, the salvation of mankind then completed, and the millennial reign of Christ is the Scriptural promise of the world’s hope. ( II Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 19:11-14; 20:1-7)

The Lake of Fire

    The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and whosever  is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, shall be sentenced to everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. ( Revelation 19:20; 20:10-15)

The New Heavens and The New Earth

    We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. (II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21 & 22)