Years ago, a dear friend sent me a care package of the most unusual items in an interestingly unique care package. Inside, every item was properly tagged with a scripture card explaining the value of each article each. The survival kit served to remind me what is needed to make it through life with these 9 Essentials for Surviving Everyday.
1) TOOTHPICK – To remind you to pick out the good qualities in others. (Matthew 7:1)
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
2) RUBBER BAND – To remind you to be flexible. Things might not always go the way you want, but it will work out. (Romans 8:28)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
3) BAND AID – To remind you to heal hurt feelings, yours or someone else’s. (Colossians 3:12-14)12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 
4) PENCIL – To remind you to list your blessings everyday. (Ephesians 1:3)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
5) ERASER – To remind you that everyone makes mistakes and it’s OKAY. (Genesis 50:15-21)
15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. 16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. 18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. 19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
6) CHEWING GUM – To remind you to stick with it, and you can accomplish anything. (Philippians 4:13)
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
7) MINT – To remind you that you
are worth a mint. (John 3:16-17)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
8) CANDY KISS – To remind you that everyone needs a kiss or a hug everyday. (John 4:7)
“There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.”
9) TEA BAG – To remind you to relax daily and go over your list of blessings. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
How appropriate is this for a friend to share such a sentimental gift? This is a beautiful illustration of how one can view everyday objects as a device for survival with the appropriate scripture. 9 little essentials passed from one friend to another now being passed to you, my friend.
PS: I researched the net to find the author of this inspiring concept, but came up empty-handed. However, I did find some information, which might encourage and help your school kids with these, 8 downloadable survival scripture cards for back-to-school that I originally found at the Tip Junkie site’s that no longer works.
(I’m using the freebie version of this pdf plugin before purchasing the license to see how it works for now. You can right-click image and do “Save As” )
You may also like this post, I wrote: I Call You Friend.
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Enjoyed this post very much! 🙂
Cathy:
I will never look at these items the same way again.
What a blessed friend you have and what great reminders to living the live that God intends for us.
I loved your post, Cathy! My, what a beautiful way to connect items with God’s word. So powerful, yet soothing to the soul! Thank you for this….I too will not look at the items the same way. Blessings, Julie
@Julie…thank you kindly. I wish I could take credit for coming up with this, but it’s borrowed. I’m delighted others are feeling the blessings of these 9 Essentials for Surviving Everyday,as much me.
I loved your post, Cathy! My, what a beautiful way to connect items with God’s word. So powerful, yet soothing to the soul! Thank you for this….I too will not look at the items the same way. Blessings, Julie
@Maureen & Diana…it was such a joy to have two new friends stop by my blog. I’m happy these essential reminders helped to focus your attention where its needed. Come again anytime!
Cathy:
I will never look at these items the same way again.
What a blessed friend you have and what great reminders to living the live that God intends for us.
That was great. I saw it many years ago and always thought it was quite true. Lovely.
@Anne Preston…You’re welcome. Isn’t it funny how something so sweet as this little survival kit can uplift your spirits?
Enjoyed this post very much! 🙂
Cathy, I received just such a kit about 15years ago as a christmas gift from someone at work. I remember I kept the little package in my drawer at work for years. That was until I needed to use the eraser and the bandaid. Then it just didn’t seem the same.
Thanks for the memmories and the smile.
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been slightly overwhelmed the past few days and enjoyed how just simple things that we take for granted can be made relevant. I am thinking would be a nice care package with these items to send someone 🙂