Day #23 Beautiful Defense

It's no secret my kids...and now my husband are into marital arts. Taekwondo (TKD) to be specific. It's kind of comical since we are such a laid back kind of family. We started Tucker in TKD when he was four. He was interested and needed something to get rid of some energy, so we thought this might be a good outlet. Shorty after that, when Savannah saw some of her friends getting involved, she decided she might give it a try and now, two years later, Bruce has begun his own journey towards a black belt.

It's crazy to think that my sweet kids are only one year away from becoming black belts. Seriously? I may need to be concerned now that they are stronger and able to defend themselves with "killer" moves. One of the things I love about TKD is that the disciplines that are taught are more along the lines of self control, leadership and dedication, rather than fighting, hurting someone or making yourself look cool by showing off your moves. There are strict rules about defending yourself and using your weapons in any type of non-sportsmanship way.

But, truth be told, one reason I have my kids in TKD is so they learn to defend themselves if someone/something bad was to ever happen to them. Let's face it, we live in a world of kidnappers, child abusers and abductors and although I'm not into living in fear, I'm also not into going to children's funerals. The leadership skills that Savannah has learned as she has gone through the leadership program have been valuable and are right in line with the principles that we are teaching at home.

However, I realize that in life, an important lesson that I need to teach my kids is that the LORD is their defense. He's the ultimate Defender. When situations come their way that they can't or don't know how to handle, their shield and defender is right there to help them make wise decisions and protect them. Before TKD, before all the moves they know, all the skills they have learned, their Defender is there. In moments of name calling, bullying, hurt feelings, meanness, gossip, lying, unkindness....He is their shield and defender. And because we live in a world where there's such hatred and malice and sin, they need to know that He's the one that provides protection and their confidence should be in Him...not in their skills.

Isn't that a beautiful principle? I'm thankful my kids know how to defend themselves from the evil people of this world, but it's more important that they know how to defend themselves from the prince of evil and darkness of this world. They can only do that through knowing the great defender. It's much more important that I teach them about HIM than enroll them in self-defense classes. His skills set is one that they need to learn from, model the form and use to destroy the spiritual enemy.

Click here for a complete list of my 31 Days Posts