Y2K... You remember the day the world was supposed to go crashing into the sun? We as a world, tried to prepare for the imminent disaster that was going to happen. The stock market was going to crash. All financial services were going to come to a halt. And all utilities would be out of service for who knows how long... That Y2K.
Him and I were living in Indonesia at the time. He was in charge of the entire IT department for his and the national Telecommunications company for all of West Java. He and his team would be responsible for getting everything back up before we crashed into the sun. It was a big deal. And because we were on the other side of the date line and one of the first places that would be effected by Y2K it was a bigger deal. The baby bell in Colorado would be watching with interest.
They all decided if the earth was in fact going to crash into the sun, they should have a party and we should all be together to observe the carnage. There was food, party hats and horns. It was after all, New Years Eve. We gathered at the company offices, 8 stories above all the revelry on the streets below. As the new year ticked into existence, we all huddled around a computer to see if it quit working, blew up or kept running.
As y'all know. It was a bust. The world didn't implode, the markets were fine, everyone still had electricity and automobiles were still running.
One result of the Y2K scare was people were quickly trying to get foodstuffs and water stored in case there was mayhem. They were frightened to think their way of life was going to get disrupted somehow. They did not know how to prepare or know what they needed to do.
The LDS Church has long been a proponent of being prepared. We are advised to have a years worth of specific foodstuffs. We are advised to have as much water as we can. We are supposed to have fuel, a means of heating our house in the event of loss of power and have some cash on hand. I suppose there are things on this list that would be harder than others for some people to gather. We are not hoarders. This is not end of the world preparations. We are to have this in the event of life. A lost job, a winter storm, financial changes and the like would be much easier with a little foresight and preparation. I know a family that lived out of food storage for the two years it took him to find another job. Not having to buy food for a family of five, relieved a great burden for this family. Being in Indonesia for Y2K, with my food storage in Colorado and having no way to store food where I lived, was a more than a little disconcerting.
We are supposed to be prepared to meet our Savior and Heavenly Father. This is a slightly more difficult proposition then getting some food together. It should be a higher priority. But just like storing the essentials in food storage, preparing to return to our Father requires some planning, more than gathering food together in the basement.
Firs, we need to know what we want to do. We need to know what our goal is. We need to prepare by doing the things we have been commanded to do, even when it is hard. Not getting back where we want to be will be a bigger disaster than if Y2K had actually happened the way they predicted. Like food storage, we need to make up our minds to prepare, then be about the business of taking the steps to get it done. Preparation makes everything easier and less stressful. It also makes achieving that goal much more likely to actually happen.
Are you prepared for the challenges the business of living throws at you?
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