Do you get songs stuck in your head very often? These catchy little earworms can be fun, reminders of good memories, and, at times, even a little annoying when we can’t get them out of our heads.

One of these catchy songs that can often become an ear worm is a song by the Byrds called “Turn! Turn! Turn!” The vast majority of this song actually comes from the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes. Chapter 3 of this Old Testament book starts by saying, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant.” It goes on, like the song does, to list many other things that there are times for.

I was thinking about this song this afternoon as we were wrapping up a session of the Project Ready or Not workshop that our church has been offering. In the class we discuss some of the things that we know there will be a time for, including many of life’s emergencies. Although we don’t always like to think about it, we know that these times are coming in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones, and we can do our best to prepare for them.

As summer kicks off, we know that here in Arizona we are entering monsoon season. This can mean storms, power outages, and, at times, damage to our homes and property. We were talking today about ways we can be prepared for storms like this. We can keep a working flashlight by our beds in case of power outage. Keeping a pair of shoes and maybe a robe by the bed can be handy in case storm damage means we have to leave our house quickly. We can keep a list of contact information and emergency phone numbers handy at all times. Hopefully, as these storms roll in this summer, we will be prepared ourselves and help our friends, neighbors, and loved ones to be prepared as well.

Emergencies don’t just come in the form of storms or physical emergencies either. Often emergencies can be mental, emotional, or spiritual in nature. Are we preparing for these as well? Are we keeping ourselves healthy in these areas? Are we checking in with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones to make sure that they are doing okay, too? I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such a great community of friends and family at Sun Lakes Community Church who help each other prepare for and weather so many storms in life. If you don’t have a community to help you during times like this, we’d love for you to join us any Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. If you’d like more information about preparing for some of life’s emergencies, please feel free to contact us for information about future Project Ready or Not workshops.