John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

*Transcription Below*

Kathi Lipp inspires thousands of women each year to strip down their expectations and lives and live with real purpose. With humor and wisdom, Kathi offers hope paired with practical steps to live with meaning.

Kathi Lipp is the author of 20 books including Clutter Free, The Christmas Project Planner, The Get Yourself Organized Project, The Husband Project, and Overwhelmed. She is the host of Clutter Free Academy the Podcast! with Kathi Lipp and speaks at conferences across the US. She also runs the Facebook group Clutter Free Academy where thousands of women (and a few brave guys) support each other in living a Clutter Free life.

She has become well respected on the topics of clutter from a biblical perspective (who knew there was such a thing?). She is a national speaker and is often featured on Woman’s World as one of their “Ask the Experts”, Focus on the Family, MOPS International, Crosswalk.com, Girlfriends in God and Proverbs 31 Ministries as well as a number of other media outlets around the country.

At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Ready for Anything by Kathi Lipp

Kathi Lipp’s Website

Connect with Kathi on Facebook @kathilipp and join her Clutter Free Academy Group!

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Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

*Transcription*

[00:00:00] <music>

Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.

[00:00:17] <music>

Laura Dugger: Today's sponsor is Chick-fil-A East Peoria and they have quite a few exciting updates that I'm going to share later on in this episode. You can visit them online at cfaeastpeoria.com

Kathi Lipp is our guest today, and we're going to hear how to steward well our current rhythm of life, whether COVID-19 has made everything busier or slowed us way down. She's going to speak to people on both ends of the spectrum, both those who are calm and the people who are panicked, all while providing practical tips and pointing us to the true reason for faith, trust, and peace, which is Jesus Christ.

Here's our chat.

Welcome to the Savvy Sauce, Kathi.

Kathi Lipp: Oh, thank you so much for having me on, Laura. I'm very excited to be here. [00:01:17]

Laura Dugger: Well, will you just start us off by telling us a little bit about yourself and your story?

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. I'm part of a blended family. We got married about 15 years ago. And through all of that, I'm married to my amazing husband, Roger, and we work on our ministry together. He works full time at a Fortune 500 company, but we also, besides writing books and speaking, we have a little place in the woods, we call it Writing at the Red House, where we do retreats for writers.

So that's part of the reason I'm so excited about this topic and living in kind of in a remote place, but also, just trying to figure out how to do our best life wherever we're living. And I'm very excited to be on with you. This is a lot of fun.

Laura Dugger: Well, I love your natural enthusiasm. I want to just dive into the topic that's on many people's minds right now. What is helping you this week to cope with all of this current COVID-19 situation? [00:02:23]

Kathi Lipp: Oh, you know, I've got a lot of grace filled people surrounding me. That is kind of a beautiful thing right now. I think we're all going to have to get a little better at the grace game because life is not how we know it anymore.

And so to be able to say, hey, I'm doing the best I can with the gifts God has given me and also the challenges I'm seeing right now. But grace-filled people are the heroes of what's going on right now.

Laura Dugger: Oh, I love that. I'm sure that all of us listening can fall on various places of the spectrum for our reactions. I'm sure we both would agree. It's important not to shame either response.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah, because, you know, I was pretty stoic until today. I don't think I realized how stressed I was and I released it on somebody who did not deserve it today. Like I said, I'm really appreciative of the grace filled people right now. [00:03:25]

But I know some people have had those reactions as well. And we've got so many people who are just coming at us, you know, they're working with their kids from home now. I mean, for us, I know this compares to nobody, because Laura, how many kids do you have? Do I see four in that picture?

Laura Dugger: Yes, we have four.

Kathi Lipp: Oh my goodness. Okay, so all we have is a cat and a dog and it's killing us. So like, for those of you who have all the kids at home, I don't even know how you're accomplishing it. So I'm just so grateful to people who are leading with grace.

Laura Dugger: Amen to all of that. I think this time can maybe just be a pep talk for wise ways that we can steward this COVID-19 situation. And I think that you, Kathi, have modeled this well already by being incredibly gracious to make as much of your new book available to people right now, even though it's not releasing for a few more months. So will you just tell us a bit about your book and where the idea originated? [00:04:26]

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. It's just crazy that this is the title. It's called Ready for Anything: Preparing Your Heart and Home for Any Crisis Big or Small. Let me just tell you, I am not a fortune teller. God has not given me special insight that I know of. But this was laid on my heart.

Just a couple of years ago, my husband and I were traveling in Canada. I had a big zero birthday. And it was 50. I don't mind saying it. I booked a bunch of Airbnbs for us to travel around on. But what I didn't do was book any Airbnbs with a washing machine and dryer. So I spent way too much time in hot, old laundromats.

I remember looking up the internet while I was at one of these laundromats, how can you do laundry without a washing machine? I just thought this would be a useful skill to have if you can do that. And it started taking me to preparedness websites and I was like, "Okay, this is a dark rabbit hole I was not expecting to go down." [00:05:30]

But what it really revealed to me was there are a lot of people out there preparing for the end of the world, which is not the direction I wanted to go in, and it freaked me out a little bit. But what it made me realize was I wasn't prepared for anything.

We're not talking the end of the world. We're talking, like, I wasn't prepared if Roger got laid off. I work for myself. So that's a different story. But I wasn't prepared for what if we need to evacuate our house with just a few minutes notice. I wasn't prepared for anything. And I thought I need to be somewhere between I'll just trust God and 10 years of baked beans in a can. I needed to find my happy medium somewhere in there.

And so I started to do some things to help us get prepared. Things like storing up food and storing up water and starting to save money in different places and coming up with an emergency plan. As I started talking to people about this, and I only talked to a few people because I'm like, "They're all going to think I'm crazy, what I came to realize is, no, everybody wants to be prepared, but they're all overwhelmed by it. [00:06:38] So this is the guide for the overwhelmed person who wants to be prepared.

Laura Dugger: And then what did your process for writing the book actually look like?

Kathi Lipp: So what I started to do was I didn't go deep into what happens if there's an earthquake, which is one of my most likely emergency scenarios, or what if Roger loses his job, which is, again, one of my most likely. Because depending on where you live and your life circumstances, your emergency is going to be different than mine.

So what I did was I said, okay, what are the things that all of us can do to be the most agile in case there is an emergency? What I really got it down to was something I called 3-2-3. The first three is, three days if I have to leave the house. So what does that look like? You know three days' worth of food and water and clothes for me myself and if I had kids it would be kids. [00:07:39] We have a dog and a cat. So what does it look like for that? How do we get out of the house quickly in a situation like that? And how do we survive, maybe just in our car or on foot for three days?

And then two... so 3-2-3, the two is two weeks at home with... you know, if we didn't have any way to get food or water or power, what would that look like?

And then three, three months of emergency expenses for basic life necessities.

So what I did was I took these three things that could work for almost any emergency. I did a lot of research. I looked at what experts said. I looked at our own personal experience. I talked to friends who are prepared and I put that all into one really easy guide.

Laura Dugger: Some of this, is it right that the American Red Cross, they have some of these recommendations as well? Is that right? [00:08:39]

Kathi Lipp: Yes. Everything in here is based on American Red Cross guideline. Because when I was telling people two weeks' worth of food and water, they're like, that's crazy. Well, one, we've all discovered, yeah, that's not so crazy. And two, it's the minimum guidelines that the Red Cross recommends, as well as the three day, what they call a bug out bag. So to get out of town to have, you know, clothes and food that you can carry on your back for three days.

Laura Dugger: Well, in this guidebook that you're talking about is where you write that we can prepare our heart and our home to be ready for anything. So let's start with heart. How can we prepare our heart well for crisis?

Kathi Lipp: Well, I think a lot of us are getting a crash course right now. And so what I would say is, one, to really understand that we can all do harder things than we know that we're capable of. [00:09:39] And to know that we are better equipped, better emotionally equipped than we probably realize, stronger. God has given us everything we need to be able to do this.

Also, for many of us, we can create our own teams. So even if we're single and living on our own, we can create a team with somebody else. Now, in this crisis, we're not getting together with that other team member. But what we're doing is, you know, that's the person we can talk to. That's the person that if we're not good at something, shopping on the internet, maybe they are. So it's finding those people that you could work together with.

And then also going back to those healthy habits that we know that we all need. So, you know, right now it's really hard to get out of our house, but we are allowed to go for walks. We are allowed to walk our dog and be in the backyard and take a stretching class online, things like that. So getting that movement together.

And then talking to people who are not always crisis focused. [00:10:40] Today, my husband and I are doing a fast from the news, just to kind of reset our hearts. It's not that we don't want to be well informed. We have been watching the news quite a bit. But we also want to be wise with where we put our emotional energy.

And then taking some of this time and saying, okay, what do I need to hear from God? And looking up those verses that we need for reassurance, or we need to remember in a time of crisis. So a lot of it is getting out of ourselves and our own worry, and saying, how can I help somebody else?

Like today, I've got very small things where I'm helping somebody else, but I held up a shirt on Facebook that I was giving away because I do these videos about cleaning out your space and decluttering. And somebody said, Oh my gosh, I want that shirt. And so I'm going to send that off to them. And it's just a little small, nice thing I can do. It's going to take 15 minutes, but it's going to be a way to serve somebody. [00:11:39]

My mom's in the other room sewing masks right now. And so my daughter said, "Is there a way that I could get a couple of those?" So I'm gonna send those off today. So it's getting out of yourself and serving others that helps you not concentrate on where your brain is right now and really helps you to be able to get out of that fear and worry place.

Laura Dugger: In order to help us get out of that place, do you have any specific questions you recommend we ask ourselves?

Kathi Lipp: I think the best question you can ask yourself is, what of this situation can I control and what can I not control? So you can't control the virus. You can't control it. But you can control staying at home. You can control sending encouragement to other people. You can control what you watch and how often you watch it. And who am I listening to? Am I listening to people who are dealing in fear and power or am I listening to people who are dealing in facts and grace? [00:12:41]

So just asking yourself the question, what can I control in this situation and what can I not control? And concentrate on those things that you can control.

Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsor.

Sponsor: I want to say thank you to our longtime sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. And I want to share a few updates with you about Chick-fil-A East Peoria.

First of all, I hope that you've already downloaded the Chick-fil-A app because did you know that with the app you can skip the line and have food ready for you when you arrive? You can even sit down at your favorite table and have your meal brought directly to you as you get settled in. This is one of my favorite options when I'm taking my four daughters to Chick-fil-A East Peoria.

So with this Chick-fil-A app you can do all these things while earning points toward free rewards that are fully customized to your preferences and tastes. [00:13:31] So I hope you download the Chick-fil-A app today and start earning your free treats.

I also want to update you on Chick-fil-A East Peoria's new product, Mac and Cheese. This is a classic recipe featuring a blend of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses. The Mac and Cheese is baked fresh daily in the restaurant so it tastes like home. They have it available as a premium side, a kids meal side option, and in catering trays.

I know our family loves to use the catering option when we're hosting people at our home. And if we get the Chick-fil-A mac and cheese, we know that the kids and adults alike will love something we're serving.

Finally, I want to let you know that Chick-fil-A was named as one of Glassdoor's best places to work in the nation. That's a huge honor. And one team member even wrote, "No comparison. This is a great job for a first job, extra money, or for career advancement. Such a loving environment, great management, and fair pay. Chick-fil-A believes that the local and involved ownership ensures fostering an environment where you are known, challenged, and cared for." [00:14:39]

So if you're looking for a wonderful place to work, I would love to encourage you to visit Chick-fil-A East Peoria or fill out an application online today at cfeastpeoria.com.

Laura Dugger: And now as we switch to the home, how can we prepare our home well?

Kathi Lipp: I think it's really interesting when I started this whole journey because what I'm really known for in my space is decluttering. You know, I have a book called Clutter-Free and Clutter-Free Home. It's like, okay, how does Ready for Anything really align with that? But I think this is such an opportunity for us to declutter so we actually know what we have. Because our clutter is so much a part of our everyday life, and we think we have things, but we don't really know.

And so now is a great time to take an inventory and pull together what you can for, say, an emergency kit, or to take an inventory of the food you have, to get rid of the foods that you know you're never going to eat, or the things that are expired, and just to know what you actually have. [00:15:45] To me, that's the most helpful.

So I spend time decluttering every single day. We're in an interesting situation. Just a week before all this hit, we sold our house in San Jose, and we were moving into our house in the mountains. The problem was, our house in the mountains was snowed in, so we landed with my mom. Now, this is where we're at. We're living with my mom. I'm helping her declutter. We're decluttering.

So it really helps us get a handle on what we have. So I think decluttering is a great way to help us be prepared, taking an inventory of what we have so we can be very strategic with what we buy, what we order on Amazon, maybe order from other places where we're getting supplies that we need.

So taking that inventory. Taking a look at our finances to say, where are we at and what do we need to do right now? Are there places that we can pull back? Are there places where we can be more strategic right now?

A lot of us are not going out to eat. We're having to have a job switch. [00:16:45] Maybe you've been working retail for a long time and now your store is closed and now you're going to be working as a delivery person or something like that. But to understand how can I take care of my finances in this economic shift and to really sit down and not just throw money at situations, but to think, "I'm smarter than I think sometimes. How can I make my present situation work?" So those are some things that we can do at home.

Also, you know, this is an opportunity to learn skills that we didn't have before. Could you fix a toilet with a YouTube video? I am a big YouTube video person. I had a dishwasher that we just didn't want to spend the money to replace for a long time and I was able to go on YouTube and learn how to keep it limping along for an extra couple of years. There's so many things that are within our power to do and take care of.

Laura Dugger: What are your thoughts also with being wise financial stewards? [00:17:45] I mean, not taking it all on ourselves to save the world and the economy, but also being able to do our part as wise stewards to leave an extra generous tip where possible or stimulate the economy in our own way.

Kathi Lipp: You know, not everybody is able to do that. And I 100% understand that. Like my kids right now have more time than money. But even my kids are saying when they are ordering a meal out once a week, or they're leaving an extra generous tip, but my daughter has also said, okay, every time that I would have gone out that I am making a meal at home, there's a way to tip at her local restaurant And so she's doing that.

One of the things that my husband and I are doing... we cannot save the world. We just can't but we hire somebody to clean our mountain retreat after Airbnb guests and after we have writers retreats. All of that is gone. But what Roger and I can do is we can still pay our house cleaner. [00:18:53] At least right now, we can pay our house cleaners, even though they aren't coming in to clean the house.

And so that's our commitment of how we're making a change, at least to one group of people, because we want them to be able to have those finances and we value them and we don't want them to risk getting sick. just so that they can make an income. So thinking about those people who rely on you right now, and what is it that you can do in order to keep their livelihood going?

Laura Dugger: That's so good. So we've talked a lot about preparing, but since we're finding ourselves smack dab in the middle of this circumstance, rather than preparing for it, I also want to discuss what we can do to make the most of this time because you had mentioned earlier, some of us are going to be busier than usual with all of the kids at home and we're learning new terms like e-learning and social distancing, yet others of us are slowing way down. [00:19:53]

So let's speak to both sides who are listening. First of all, how can we be intentional with the new season of margin, and how can we simplify all of the extra added stress and responsibilities?

Kathi Lipp: I almost can combine those questions. So here's how I'll do it is to say like one of the things that I'm seeing a lot of parents putting a lot of stress on themselves to substitute themselves for six different teachers. I think we've all seen the memes and we've seen the research and right now the most important thing is for your kids to feel safe and secure.

And so one of the things... I don't have kids at home. You know, my kids are older and they're all grown up. But one of the things that I think that I would be doing at this point is teaching my kids how to cook a meal that they've never cooked before. [00:20:53]

Let's put together a first aid kit. These are skills that we don't teach in our schools, but our kids desperately need. I'll never forget when my daughter went off to college. She goes, "Mom, I'm learning a lot this week." And I'm like, "Well, tell me about that." She goes, "First of all, everybody has horrible taste in music." And I'm like, "Okay, that may be a little subjective." And she says, "And second of all," she goes, "Mom, I'm the only person in my dorm who knows how to do laundry." Like, No, no, no, no, that's crazy.

Well, turns out she was teaching all these kids how to do laundry at 18 years of age. Okay, I'm sorry, we need to be sending our kids better into the world. And she goes, you know, all these kids are geniuses but they don't have day-to-day skills. Well, here's our opportunity for our kids to be helping with just cleaning up and preparing dinner and baking and writing that note to our next-door neighbor or to grandma who's in an assisted care facility and can't have visitors. [00:21:58]

This is how we need to be loving on people. Your job is not to be the teacher. Your job is to be the parent and to teach them only the things that you can teach them. So now is the time to do the things that they're not gonna teach in school. They're still going to learn. They are still going to learn, but take it easy. It lessens the pressure on yourself. It lessens the meltdown from your kids.

And now is a time... it's such a unique opportunity to become connected as a family in ways that maybe you've never had that opportunity before. And so give yourself a ton of grace. And maybe you only do schoolwork two days a week. Your kids are going to be okay. I promise you, parents, your kids are going to be okay.

Laura Dugger: Well, and let's also discuss some creative ideas for how we are uniquely positioned to be the body of Christ over these few weeks. Do you have any tips or stories to share? [00:22:58]

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. One of the things that I want to do is, this is a unique time to be a part of our community. We can't be going out and doing things, but we can do things like... if we're going to mow our lawn, can we mow our next door neighbor's lawn? You know, the elderly person who can't get out.

Just yesterday, we had a package come to our house that was supposed to go to our next door neighbors. I don't know them because I'm living at my mom's house right now. But I rang on their doorbell. I stood 12 feet back and I said, "There's a package there for you. I've sanitized my hands. But also, do you need anything? Do you need toilet paper? Do you need hand sanitizer? Do you need anything?" And he said, "No, we don't. But I'm Chris." And I said, "I'm Kathi." He goes, "Do you guys need anything?" I'm like, "No, no, no, we're good."

So, we have an opportunity to go and serve in ways that we might not be able to otherwise. Right now, my husband is tech support for every person I know. [00:23:57] That's how he's serving. He's serving on our church team, even though he's not able to go to church. He's designing lighting remotely. We all have things that we can do to serve our neighbors in this crisis.

And so to check on our neighbors now is a great time to be on the next door app to see if there are needs in there. You know, so often in my book that I wrote, you know, where we didn't even mention the word pandemic, because I had no idea this was coming, is about going and physically meeting that need.

But now is the time where we can... we have to do it long distance. So I'm committed to writing my mother-in-law, who's in an assisted care facility, a note each and every day. These are the things that we can do now as we see unique needs come up that we've never seen before. We can be that body of Christ acting out in a way that represents Him so well.

Laura Dugger: And because He's a creator and we're made in His image, I believe we all are creative or we can ask Him for creative solutions. [00:25:03] So I love what you're saying. Is there any scripture during this season that you've especially appreciated recently?

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. It's John 14:27. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." I especially like the "do not be afraid" because God's not saying fear is never going to come up. But do not be in that place of fear. That's not where you need to linger. That's not where you need to stay.

The world is giving us facts and figures, and we need to listen to that. But God gives us a different supernatural peace. So our hearts don't have to be troubled, and we don't have to stay in that place of fear. We're going to bounce there, but we don't have to land there.

Laura Dugger: Kathi, this is so cool. I'm just beaming right now, so I have to share.

Kathi Lipp: Yeah. [00:26:02]

Laura Dugger: In our show notes, every time there's a scripture that's included, and sometimes it won't come to me till after we record, but oftentimes I do it ahead of time. And the scripture I had selected for our chat today is John 14:27.

Kathi Lipp: I love it. That's amazing. Oh, Laura, that makes me so happy. That's incredible.

Laura Dugger: And I just appreciate the Lord's kindness in that because I think in this dark time, there is still so much light. And when we can share some of these positive things that He's using for our good and His glory, I find that to be really encouraging.

Kathi Lipp: You know Laura, I'll tell you a quick story if you're okay with it. When we bought this red house Writer's Retreat a year and a half ago, the people who owned it, their names are Hella and Bill, she is Danish, left most of their furniture. They already had another house.

And so we didn't know they were doing that when we bought the house. [00:27:02] I was blown away because I thought we were going to be sleeping in sleeping bags for the first year. And so what was so amazing was we have this joke that the red house giveth. Anytime we're looking for something, it's in a drawer, it's in a nook, it's on a shelf. We wait a couple of days and the house produces it.

Well, I was cleaning out a drawer and it had some sewing notions in it. And I am not a sewer. It skips generations. Like my mom's an amazing sewer, but that's not me at all. And so I take things to the Goodwill all the time. And then I really realized, you know what, maybe my mom could use this. So I put it in a little bag with her name on it.

Well, what's so funny is I did this almost a year ago and I'm like, "Okay, this is ridiculous that I've had this bag for like a year and I've never done anything with it." So just a couple of days ago, I found the bag and I gave it to my mom and I said, "Could you use any of this?" And she goes, "Yeah." She has a lot of sewing supplies and stuff like that.

Well, that was on Sunday. [00:28:01] On Monday, somebody asked her, could you start sewing masks for our local hospital? Well, one of the things she needs was elastic and it was in that bag of notions I gave her.

And so, you know, I think about this piece of elastic, this little package of elastic that probably been sitting in a drawer for five, maybe 10 years. And then it was sitting in a bag that I was going to bring to my mom for a year. And I gave it to her on Sunday. On Monday, she needed it to be able to make these masks for this crisis. And I'm like, "Okay, that's not a coincidence. That's God setting up the timing in all of this."

Laura Dugger: Such sovereign timing. He does prepare those good works for us to do. And he totally equipped you for that. That's incredible.

Kathi Lipp: I love it.

Laura Dugger: Hey everyone, I don't want you to miss out on this incredible deal that benefits you and us. For as little as $5 per month, you can support The Savvy Sauce and help offset our financial burden to produce these episodes, all while unlocking access to our secret bonus episodes. [00:29:08] When you visit thesavvysauce.com, you can click on the Patreon tab to sign up. Instantly, you're going to have access to Patreon-only podcasts, where you can hear an encouraging message from counselors such as Corey Weathers or Julie Roth.

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Now, specifically speaking to parents for a moment, what can we do to walk our kids through this well?

Kathi Lipp: I saw a very shaming meme, you know, saying, "Parents, act right. Your kids are watching." And I'm like, "Yeah, but also, you know what, parents are afraid too, and they're afraid for their kids." [00:30:08]

So I think this is the time to really ask yourself those questions. What can I control? What's out of my control? And there's a lot that's in your control.

So I think giving your kids a purpose in this pandemic is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. What is it that they can do? Can they help? Some of those things we talked about before, can they pull together a first aid kit? Can they start helping with some of the cooking?

Let them know that they're part of the team. That you're not having these secret conversations off from the bedroom. Maybe you have to have some of those. That's okay. But they are a part of the team and they can add to this in their own small ways. Even if it's scribbling on a piece of paper to send to grandma. There are things that they can do to make this time better. So helping them see that and think through that and helping them be a part of the team is a beautiful thing.

Laura Dugger: That's a good word. As we look to the future, why do you think it's important for us to be prepared during a more neutral time when there is no crisis? [00:31:14]

Kathi Lipp: Oh, because we're either in the midst of the crisis, we're getting out of a crisis, or we're going into one. I hate to say that. And I'm not a pessimist. I'm about the most optimistic person you can have. But I just know this for a fact, that there's always going to be something.

So like when we had those two weeks' worth of food, we actually have more than that because we live in the mountains and it's easy for us to get snowed in up there. But, you know, we didn't have to go and panic buy when everybody else does. We had a couple months' worth of toilet paper. We always do. So we're not buying in a panic and we can leave it for other people. We can spend those first few days in the emergency, not gathering supplies but saying, how can I help my neighbor?

And so to think of it that way, we always need to be prepared for the next crisis that's coming. You're like, well, why would I need two weeks worth of food? Well, you know what? If somebody loses their job, that's two weeks worth of shopping you don't have to do. You could be really, really grateful for that in a crisis. [00:32:14]

And here's the other beautiful thing, Laura, that I love. It's not just a crisis happening to us. What if our neighbor loses their job? Can we give to them out of our own preparedness? Can we give them some extra food? Can we give them the extra toilet paper so they don't have to buy it that way? If we have our emergency funds stacked up, are we able to help them in this moment of crisis? That's why I like to be prepared when there's no emergency in sight.

Laura Dugger: I like that it's a unique perspective. That being prepared actually allows us to love our neighbors well so that we can minister to them if needed.

Kathi Lipp: Yes, exactly. And it gets the focus off of us and it says, this is how I can love others well, no matter the circumstances.

Laura Dugger: We love practicality here. So what practical steps can we take to prepare for this type of situation next time?

Kathi Lipp: I tell people to start with this. Start with one hundred one dollar bills and a jug of water. [00:33:18] So there are lots of jugs on Amazon for long-term storage of water. You will never regret having extra water and you'll never regret having an extra hundred dollars.

So start with those two places and then you can start to build up to the place of 3-2-3. How would you prepare your meals? So do you have a barbecue? You know, start to thinking through some of that stuff. And you don't need to buy necessarily these fancy prepared emergency food packets, but two weeks' worth of canned food. Do you have enough stuff to make tuna fish on crackers? Could you make soup? Could you make stuff with canned chicken? Think about those kind of things.

And then starting your emergency fund. So I say start with a hundred dollars build to a thousand. Get to a couple weeks of emergency fund and then eventually get to a place where you have three months set aside if you need it.

Laura Dugger: And when you talk about being packed for three days to leave your house, how do you specifically do that? [00:34:18]

Kathi Lipp: I have a backpack that has two changes of clothes. It has some prepped meals. So, you know, things that are in packets that you can just add water or you can just eat like tuna packets, things like that. I've got some emergency cash in there. I also have water that we packed in our car. So if we need to get out in a hurry...

Because our most likely scenario besides job loss is wildfire and earthquakes. So those are the things that we need to think about. We could still probably get our car out. If we can't, then we need to have the backpacks where we take that and we carry the water. So that's how we get prepared. We just have that backpack packed at all times.

And the nice thing is we have three days' worth of food in there. So when the shelter in place came in, not only did we have the food on our shelves, we had the food in our backpacks. So it's all building on each other to create a safety net for when there's an emergency.

Laura Dugger: That's very helpful to hear how that's happened. [00:35:19] And if we didn't say this at the top of the episode, when you're talking about shelter-in-place, you're in California, and California right now is under the stay-at-home order. Is that right?

Kathi Lipp: Yes, that's correct. We have been for about 10 days now.

Laura Dugger: So in the midst of that, is there any other message of peace and calm that you want everyone to hear?

Kathi Lipp: Can I just say, we're all going to have our patience challenge. We're all going to have our peace challenge. We're all going to have our joy challenge. But God, you know, has given us a spirit of power. We have more resources than we need.

Here's what I know. We are going to become more of who we are at the end of this. So what's pouring into you is? Scripture pouring into you are good people pouring into you? And what are you pouring out? Are you pouring out peace? Are you pouring out joy? [00:36:18]

So just be more of who you want to become. Also if you are married, I really believe in understanding each other's strengths and letting each other lead in those strengths. My husband's better at the finances. I'm better at the practical. It's very easy in these really hard circumstances to want to control everything if you're a control freak, and I can go that way. I can start to want to be really controlling of the finances, even though I'm terrible at them.

So it's time to say, you know what? I trust my husband. I'm going to follow his lead. And he feels the same in the areas I'm stronger in. So how do we love and support each other in the strengths that God has given us?

Laura Dugger: Kathi, this time has been really beneficial. Where can listeners find you online or learn more about your upcoming book release?

Kathi Lipp: At Clutter-Free Academy on Facebook. [00:37:19] We have about 10,000 people, 10,000 women and a few brave men who are getting rid of clutter. And we're going to be going through a lot of the Ready for Anything book there, so we would love to have you join us over there.

Or all retailers will have the e-version of this book in April. So we would love for you to check that out. It's called Ready for Anything. And we just don't know what the situation is going to be with print copies. Amazon's not shipping books except for kids books right now. So if you go to Kathilipp.com/RFA, we'll have the most up-to-date information.

Laura Dugger: Very helpful. And you may already know we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or discernment. And so as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?

Kathi Lipp: Oh, my savvy sauce is being able to turn any situation into something that we can learn something from. [00:38:18] You know, when I was a broke single mom, I had this book. It was called the Tightwad Gazette. It was by a woman named Amy Dacyczyn. She wrote it in the 80s and 90s. And I learned how to do all these grandma skills to save us money and to survive. And I feel like we are all going to have that opportunity here. We're all going to learn new things.

Just Sunday, I learned how to cut my husband's hair with a pair of clippers and some scissors. I just trimmed my own hair the other day. I think we're all going to come out of this with so many new skills and resources, and we're going to learn how powerful we were all along. We just didn't know it. So that's my hope for everybody here, is we're going to learn how to turn a hard situation into knowledge and power.

Laura Dugger: I just love your positivity, Kathi. Thank you so much for sharing this message with us. And thank you for passing along so much encouragement today. I enjoyed having you as my guest. [00:39:19]

Kathi Lipp: Oh, Laura, thanks for sharing this space with me. What a special place. Thanks for having me here.

Laura Dugger: My pleasure.

One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners and God is perfect and holy, so He cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, we're separated from Him.

This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.

This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. [00:40:24] This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.

We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

So would you pray with me now? Heavenly, Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change their lives now for eternity. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.

If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him, you get the opportunity to live your life for Him. [00:41:24]

At this podcast, we are called Savvy for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you're ready to get started?

First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision my parents took me to Barnes and Noble to get the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. Start by reading the book of John.

Get connected locally, which basically means just tell someone who is part of the church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.

We want to celebrate with you too. So feel free to leave a comment for us if you made a decision for Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.

Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today. [00:42:31]

If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Welcome to The Savvy Sauce

Practical chats for intentional living

A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.

They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!