My Family Culture

First of all I have to say that I dislike even thinking about a major catastrophe happening to our country and the thought of having to leave this wonderful nation in which we live.  It was very difficult to think of three items that I would have to choose but after much thought, this is what I came up with.

My Bible:

The very first thing that I would take is my Bible.  It is very important to my family's culture because we live by the principles that are within it.  I would know that I was alive by the grace of God and although I wouldn't need the bible to pray, reading God's word is the basis for my everyday life.  It is the roadmap by which my life is designed and being able to read it on a daily basis would bring me comfort during what sounds like a very difficult time. 

My Photo Album:
I would definitely want pictures of my family members that would not be with me.  I know that I would always have them in my mind and heart but we all know how time works on the mind and forgetting things is a natural process that we have to deal with.  I would want my photos so that I would be able to look at them each day and remember the people who were so very dear to me.  Being able to look at these photos would refresh my memory each day and also keep these people alive in my mind's eye.  The pictures would also allow me to remember family events that had occured and were special to me. 

The American Flag;

The final item that I would bring would be the American flag.  In not knowing what country I would end up in I would want the flag as a reminder of the wonderful nation that I was a part of.  Seeing the flag would always remind me of what our country stood for and the freedoms that we enjoyed while living here.  It would make me appreciate all that I had while giving me peace in knowing that Americans are strong and can overcome many things.  The flag is the root of our culture and a symbol of all that we know and love and having it with me would provide comfort and peace.

If when I got there they told me that I could now only keep one personal item the feelings that I would have would probably be sadness and anger.  I would be angry because they had misled me and now I would have to choose between three items that are very important to me.  The next would be sadness in knowing that I would have to leave some very important items behind.  These emotions would not overtake me though because first of all I have my immediate family with me(that's the most important thing) and I know that God would bring me peace about all of the rest. 

This exercise was a little difficult for me because as I sat and thought about it, my first reaction was that I didn't really need to bring anything else if I have my immediate family with me.  I then thought about living without a Bible and knew that I would not want to do that for fear that the country that I was going to would not have a basis in the same spiritual being.  I then thought about the idea of not having an America anymore and that thought was so very scary to me.  I think the very thought leads to feelings of the fact that I don't appreciate the country that I live in enough because we have so many freedoms that we take for granted.  This led me to wanting to have the American flag with me.  I then began to think what immediate family might mean.  To me immediate family means my husband, children, mother, grandmother, and sisters.  If I had all of these people, I would be fine where I was going because next to God they are my strength and foundation.  I then thought that it might not mean all of these people and so if not, I would definitely need pictures of them with me to bring me comfort in times that I missed them which would be everyday.  This exercise was really enlightening because it reaffirmed for me the things that are truly at the heart of who I am - a Christian American whose family is the most important thing next to God!