© 1999 Michael S. Hyatt
Well, the holidays are almost upon us. Already the Christmas decorations are going up in many malls and retail outlets. The shopping marathon is about to begin. It seems as if it starts earlier every year.
Most people will purchase the same kinds of things for their loved ones that they have bought for years: designer clothing, various gadgets and toys, and the usual consumer consumables that will be here today, gone tomorrow. To quote an old adage: “They will buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t know with money they don’t have.”
The reason most people continue to engage in this lemming-like behavior is because they are oblivious to the fact that a change is coming. A big change. Perhaps the biggest change to our world that you and I have ever witnessed. And we have precious little time to prepare.
If you are wise — and prudent — you won’t be distracted by the millions of ads and thousands of consumer catalogs designed to get you to part with your money for stuff that only makes sense in the current context. A hurricane is coming, and if you understand this, it will affect everything you do, including the kinds of Christmas gifts you purchase.
In my family we adopted a new purchasing policy a while back. We decided that we would not buy anything unless it would make sense in the context of the world we may find ourselves in after Jan. 1, 2000. (If you want to know what I am preparing for, read “So How Bad Is It Really Going to Be?”) This is especially true when it comes to Christmas gift-buying. I don’t know about you, but our family can’t afford to waste what few resources we have on stuff we won’t need later.
This policy doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to take the fun out of Christmas. You can still give gifts that are really cool; you just have to do a little research. You also have to order early, because many items will take longer to deliver. Here’s a list of possibilities:
- Long underwear
- Coats, hats, gloves, or other winter clothing
- Boots or work gloves
- Candles
- A nice kerosene lamp
- A hand-operated wheat grinder
- A solar flashlight or fluorescent lantern
- A WorldBand Solar and Dynamo Powered Radio
- A hunting rifle
- A Coleman propane cook stove
- A good first-aid kit
- A wood-burning stove (perhaps used)
- A fire-proof safe for storing important documents
- Books on emergency preparedness. (See our recommended reading list.)
- A high-quality water filter
- Hand tools
- A chemical or composting toilet
- A bicycle
- Games (things that can entertain children in the absence of electricity)
Some of these items may seem boring, but so much of it depends on the attitude you have toward them. Getting ready for Y2K can be like any other positive family project. You can do it together in a spirit of hope, cooperation, and adventure or you can project an attitude of gloom, doom, and drudgery.
Your kids may not be as grateful now as they would be if they received the latest toy or gizmo, but I have to believe that they may very well be grateful later when their friends’ stuff is useless and worthless. To quote a famous king: “The prudent man sees danger and takes refuge. The simple keep going and suffer for it” (Proverbs 22:3).
