I’d say this is some major deja vu.

Except last time, I was nine months pregnant and trying to figure out where I’d be having my baby if the road closures blocked the route to my birth center.

But the fact is we’re smack dab in the middle of fire season and here we are, exactly one year later almost to the day, and the Southern California area is ablaze once again.

You may have heard of the Camp Pendleton fire–right in our backyard.

Okay, well not literally in OUR backyard, but in the literal backyard of several friends only a few miles away.

Last night our church became a mini Evacuation Central as each evacuation zone was announced and church family needed somewhere to go. We’ve been on stand-by in case our house is needed as a camp out spot. And even though we’re in a central location a good distance from the fire, the smoke knows no bounds and is slithering in through any crevice it can find.

Once we were sure our friends were all safely out of the immediate danger zone and had watched the late local news, John and I started heading up the stairs hoping to get some sleep. As we walked through the house locking doors and shutting off lights, we started talking about what we’d grab if we were to receive that reverse 911 call.

Besides, you know, our kids.

I think they’d be first priority. Slightly.

But if we had, say, a half an hour to load a few things in the truck, what would we turn to first?

We have most of our pictures on CDs in a fireproof lock-box, along with all of our important paperwork. But beyond that… what is most important? Can’t be replaced?

I might grab my wedding dress in its preservation box. I’d probably reach for my most beloved Bible–the one with the special underlinings and notes I’d hate to lose–and definitely my journals.

Or wait. Maybe I’d let myself just happen to forget those three journals I filled in one year when I was 16. I think THOSE are a few memories I’d be okay losing.

We have special scrapbooks, the boys’ first year calendars and special blankies. The journal I kept for “my future husband” before I knew his name would be John. John’s grandpa’s old pocket Bible with notes in his own handwriting filling the inside front and back covers. And then there’s the stuff that would be harder to load up–the boxes of keepsakes in the garage.

We weren’t sure. Beyond the four of us–what would we be the most saddened to lose?

So tell me… if you were evacuated and had a thirty minutes to gather a few things and be gone, what would you reach for first?

Or maybe you’d be like John and say, “You know, we’d probably need to get the kids’ DVD case. Because that thing and the truck’s DVD player could be what really saves our lives.”

Priorities, people. I’m telling ya.

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