Life doesn’t go as planned for many of us. We have this ideal plan for a bright future but sometimes life happens to us and we have to make some major adjustments. We hear stories of a sudden loss of a friend but we never dream it will touch our lives. It can! It happened to me!
The death of a loved one is considered the single most stressful thing that can happen to a person. When a child dies, we mourn not only the child, but also the loss of all our future dreams for that child. For a sudden loss we deal with shock, emotional pain and disbelief. That doesn’t stop the necessary decisions that need to be made.
One of the most difficult times immediately following Tim’s death was all the unanswered questions I had to find answers to! It seemed non-stop for several days. I remember arriving home from the hospital and it seemed almost immediately we heard from the funeral home director needing to know what time we would be in the very next day to make all the arrangements. Then there was a knock at our door and it was the person in charge of the burial plots and they needed me to pick out where I wanted Tim to be buried right then so they could get the grave dug right away. At the funeral home, they asked so many questions…who would the pallbearers be? Who would sing? What songs? What time for the service? What casket? What vault? Then we had to go up and pick out the flowers for the casket. What scriptures to be read? Who would preach? Who would share? I just wanted my world to stop but it couldn’t. I want to spare you the agony of having to make all these important decisions at a difficult time in your life. You are trying to process what has just happened and you have to make extremely difficult decisions that could be very costly, if you are not thinking properly. Let my experience be a motivation to you to Prepare With Purpose now, not later!
You can make your own plans, but life might change them. Even when we do make plans sometimes life will get in the way. If there is one thing we can all be certain of in life, it’s having to adapt to change! Jimmy Dean once said, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” Sometimes we are hit with unexpected life changes that we have to adjust to quickly. Other events allow us time to prepare in advance so we can make future course corrections easier for you or a loved one.
We assume so many things in life. We assume we will always be able to carry on as usual and life will go as we have planned. We assume we will have time to plan later in life for the difficult decisions that face us at death. Let me tell you….LIFE HAPPENS! What a gift you are giving your family to record your wishes before anyone needs this information. I encourage you to keep your loved ones in mind as you continue to follow through with the personal preparations of your own wishes through our process Preparing With Purpose.
One of the timeliest conversations I had with my parents was the discussion of their wishes for their own funerals. They surprised me with how much they had already thought about but had never communicated to anyone. Knowing that I was able to help them express their personal desires for their own services was very meaningful. I saw the pressure relieved from them as they knew I would respect and honor their wishes and they knew they had taken a heavy burden off my shoulders.
Being a good steward of our resources is about being a responsible adult. Good stewardship involves leaving a valid will with clear instructions concerning what you desire for all your possessions and how you want your funeral handled.
Think about the peace of mind you will have to know you have made the important decisions and completed the necessary paperwork to prepare for the what ifs of life. This is not about YOU…this is about your loved ones. Saving your family stress, and helping to keep unity in the family by pre-deciding how you want your assets and belongings to be handled will save everyone emotional distress. Also, you are helping your family from making some costly financial decisions that can be made at a very vulnerable and emotional time.
This week is the release of Preparing with Purpose Module 2. It covers planning for end of life decisions and getting you end of life benefits in order. You can view both Module 1 and Module 2 here. We will also be releasing all five Modules in a few weeks at a discounted rate. You can pre-order all five nodules on a password protected thumb drive now.
