A neighbor across the street from me, in our 55+ mobile home community of over 400 households, suffered the loss of his beloved wife of 24 years, night before last. The past two days, I’ve been helping him with paperwork and other details. The paperwork was the worst. Trying to find her Social Security number, her date of birth, mother’s maiden name, father’s name, and more, was an exercise in patience. We just weren’t sure where to look. She’d stopped driving; the coroner kept her photo ID when they took her away, and there were no adult kids who cared enough for us to call.
Needless to say, we eventually found what we needed. However, it brought home some disturbing facts to me. When my Maker calls me home, how on earth, in my mass of clutter, will anyone be able to find my own papers?
I remember when my DM passed away in ’94. She kept every important paper of that nature in one drawer, in one box in that drawer. I went right there, found everything, and it was a true blessing. You’d think I would have learned my lesson from my own mother. Not me. I’m stubborn and I also tend to think I have plenty of time to prepare the way.
Well, after what we just went through, I think I’d better start nipping away at my clutter and start putting important papers all in one place. I’ve begun to do that, off and on, but I always find a different or new “one place” and so I now have several of them and I need to consolidate them.
Father, thank you for the chance to help a neighbor and thank you for reminding me of something I should have done over ten years ago. Please send me the grace and fortitude to prepare the way so that others will have less stress when you call me.
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