Does Your Family Have a Meeting Place in Case of Emergencies?

I received the following message from my wife Ashley. She recently had a frightening revelation that I thought was important to share. It's certainly not something you WANT to think about, but it's probably something we all NEED to think about.

As I sat here drinking my coffee, I began thinking about our day. Both of our kids talking about attending the football game tonight, and as I looked at our innocent kids, living without fear, talking about meeting up with friends and walking around the bowl, fear washed over me. A football game should be a time of joy, but today, I'm fearful for our kids. With all of the violence going on in our country, it's only a matter of time before we will be at an event when something terrible happens. That's when I decided to come up with a plan. If something terrible happens, such as someone opening fire on the football crowd, our kids now know where to go to meet. Thinking about away games terrifies me even more. So now, when we pull into the parking lot at another school for what should be a fun Friday night football game, we have to decide where to meet if something happens. I know this may sound crazy, to have a plan in case of a shooter, but in the world we live in, we have to have a plan for this. My heart hurts a little having to think about this and to talk with the kids about the chances of something terrible happening, but I feel it's so important when in a big crowd. This morning, parenting has reached a scary new level.

I'll be honest, my very first thought was that she was being a little dramatic. But it didn't take long for me to realize that her fears really aren't that unfounded. There are more and more incidents each year in small towns all across the country. And, really, what's the harm in having a plan? You may never need it, but it could save lives if, God forbid, you do have some sort of emergency.

So, keeping all that in mind, do you have a plan for your family?