Hello family and friends,
This update/recap was written over Christmas break.
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You haven’t heard from me in a while, but I hopefully that will change, as my communication skills are improving. I have been growing a lot since the last time we talked. I believe I sent an update last right before ESOAL (Emotionally Stretching Opportunity of A Lifetime), so that is where I will start.
ESOAL is an intensive emotional training event that the Honor Academy facilitates. It is several days long and characterized by physical exercise and little to no sleep. The purpose of it is to take you past your emotional limit – way past – so that you can learn to control your emotions. It was fun. Really, it was. It was fun because I CHOSE to be joyful during it. I was wet from the moment it began until about an hour afterwards, and I was cold almost that entire time. I was physically exhausted the entire time, and at one point almost passed out from lack of energy (right before we got to the next meal), but it was fun! Would I do it again? I’m not sure, because it isn’t about whether I would do good, but whether I would learn from it and ultimately whether it would glorify God. If the Lord tells me to, I will. If He tells me not to, I won’t.
ESOAL is about reaching something called BAR – Burial and Resurrection (emotionally speaking). For a reference point, it is my opinion that Sanctification (the process of becoming holy) is actually the process of reaching BAR in every area of life. BAR is simply the state in which you are submitted to the Bible. There two verses that summarize ESOAL:
- “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Phillipians 4:13
- “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
Now the question is, “How has that changed your life?” The truth is that all ESOAL did was accelerate my growth. There were no massive breakthroughs… (Well there was one, but it had to do with Unity, not life in general.) The point is that ESOAL, just like all trials, was a testing ground for what I already knew. It extracted the proper attitude that I had already developed during my Bible time.
After ESOAL I have noticed several differences about myself, all of which stem from perserverance. The biggest change is that now discomfort is no longer something that controls me, but rather a piece of information to consider in making a logical decision of whether or not I will continue. The other main change is that I now know I have control over my emotions. I am joyful because I choose to be joyful, and quite commonly my circumstances agree with my attitude. When they don’t (as happened the other day), I am joyful anyways. When I am not joyful, I go vent my other emotions in prayer, and come out joyful.
BAR is the process of being in submission to the scriptures. That’s it. ESOAL is an easy pressure-cooker to develop such skills quickly. It develops and reveals self-discipline, which can be used to translate knowledge and wisdom into action. Now the only battle is developing the knowledge and wisdom about what one should do. That’s where study comes in – both study of the Word and of other books.
