EMOTIONAL PREPAREDNESS
On the page, Why This Site I told the story of two men and their quest to start a campfire. That night we taught those two men how to build a fire and the next night they no longer needed our help. But was this the end of the story? I think not. During that weekend those men as well as many other men and women learn vital knowledge they may or may not ever need in the future. Maybe the time was wasted, but of course I think not. I am not one for watching every movie that comes out, but there are a few that I dearly love. The movies I enjoy are the ones in which the characters in the movie are stretched beyond the capabilities they think they have and find qualities others saw in them, but were unknown to the person at the time. How many of us tried not to show the tears when we watched, "Remember the Titans"? If you have never seen the movie, I strongly suggest it. "Guardian" about the Coast Guard rescue swimmer is another favorite. Maybe on the top of the list though is "Castaway". In the movie the main character, a city boy, stranded on a deserted island and has to learn how to survive. We watch him through his struggles, his blood, sweat and tears as he learns how to deal with his new life. My favorite part is the building of the fire. After so much struggle and learning a bit of smoke comes forth from the tinder and with growing excitement each breath on the tender produces more smoke which finally bursts into a flame. The next scene is the character standing next to a roaring fire on the beach, beating his chest and proclaiming, "Look what I have created!" To think the above scene had anything to do with fire is to miss the whole point of what had just happened. It was not about fire, but about what had happened in the person. The person had changed, they had found something dormant inside themselves maybe only the Creator knew He had placed there. Recently I was teaching in California and one of the subjects was fire building. I was not teaching this one, but learning. I was teamed up with a young man in his early 20s. We got our wood and tinder, preparing everything as we had been told to do. At first we switched off twirling our stick on the base below until all of a sudden smoke began to come forth. The young man no longer cared about his tired arms, blisters forming on his hands or the fact that it was my turn. He was seeing smoke. Within moments "our" ember was glowing and he placed it into the tinder. The ember became hotter and hotter, more and more smoke, and then there was fire! I will never forget the look on this young mans face nor the feeling of knowing what had happened to him as a person. He had accomplished something not many people have every done and he would never forget it nor would he ever be the same. Some of the teaching you receive from this web site you may never use. In fact I hope you do not have to use, but it is not about the information. It is about the confidence you will build in yourself, knowing you can handle with the help of The Almighty Himself the situations which may come in the near future. You will no longer look in your mirror and wonder what you could ever offer. You will know you are a child of God, a man or woman of purpose. You have been chosen to be a part of the most honored generation ever, the one which will see His return. Because of this change you will be the one people can come to for answers when there are no answers. A person who can not only build a fire when trapped on a deserted island, but give the answer to the greatest and most important question of all; "How do I know the God that you know, the One that made such a change in you?"