What We Heard

Dr. Brad Dennis, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has dedicated his career to educating other medical professionals and the non-medical public. He is passionate about teaching skills in an effort to limit the tragedy of preventable death due to trauma. Brad is also passionate about preparing families for when tragedy occurs and gave us incredibly practical and spiritual principles in order to do that.

1. Get your house in order. It is important that you think through the long term effect that a traumatic event would have on your family not only emotionally, but financially. Questions to consider: Do you have life insurance? Do you and your wife have your Will’s written? Are you covered with disability insurance?
2. Project calm. The importance of a calming presence cannot be overstated. As leaders in our homes, we are looked to for stability, our reaction or overreaction has a profound impact on the hours, weeks, even years after those events take place.
3. Get your heart in order. The number one way to prepare for a tragedy is to prepare our hearts. The best way to prepare our hearts is to prioritise your relationship with Christ. Families who approach tragedy through the lens of faith approach death, dying, healing, and letting go very different because of the eternal perspective on life.
4. Build Community. We need a community of people to surround us when tragedy impacts our family. A group of people to listen, meet our needs, offer words of wisdom, and simply be present.

What It Means

In a broken world, tragedy will hit every family at some point in time. Knowing this truth, it becomes urgent in our preparation as men to lead well through those circumstances. Of course, we are uncertain of the timing of these events, but as leaders, we have to be proactive in our effort to make Christ our priority. We read in Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight,” the question for us becomes, how can we make this a reality even when life punches us in the gut?

What We Do Next

Be intentional and proactive. Knowing this information we cannot delay in prioritising our family around our faith in Christ and preparing our family financially and with legal documents in order. The goal is not to stressed out, worried, or paralysed with anxiety, but to simply to prepare.