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.

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Weekend Wrap

It's been 48 hours since I became a domestic engineer again and I am happy to report that you can not only see the top of the kitchen table, you can also find things in the pantry, open cabinet doors without first checking your last will and testament and your feet don't stick to the floor as you walk across the kitchen and dining room. Yes, I've been cleaning, organizing and decluttering and it's taken me two days to get the kitchen and dining room under control. 

But I don't care. I'm not stressed about it. In fact, dare I say it, it was almost enjoyable. The kids chipped in and helped wipe down baseboards and doors, haul out trash, organize the pots and pans and other kid-friendlier chores. We've swept and mopped and rearranged. All in all...job well done!

And just in case you're worried that we might be all work and no play...

Tucker tickled my toes while we enjoyed some time in the backyard sun.

Lucas and Tucker with 7th degree black belt Master
at their  taekwondo testing Friday.

Savannah breaking her boards to earn her blue belt.

Leadership - TKD Style

For Christmas, all this girl could eat, sleep and breathe was to be in Leadership at our local Taekwondo studio. She's been taking classes since last spring and has passed all her belt tests with flying colors...so, for Christmas she was rewarded with the privilege of being in leadership. What does this entail?

1. She will attend an extra class to develop her leadership skills each week. This is in addition to her 2 classes that she attends for her physical skills/forms/sparring.

2. She will volunteer in classes each week that are lower ranked that her current belt color. Currently she is a green belt, so that allows her to help with Tiny Tigers, white belts, yellow and orange belts. She will get credit for each class she assists.

3. She gets this fancy red, white and blue uniform, a new weapon of choice and plenty of time on the mat to develop into an even more disciplined athlete.

It's exciting to watch her confidence develop as she takes on another challenge. Little does she remember, but when she was five years old we tried enrolling her in Taekwondo in Gunter. She screamed and cried and acted bashful and shy and we ended up dropping out because she refused to participate. What we know now is that Savannah does things at her own pace! She just needed a few years.

Word of caution to anyone who tries to mess with her: She's strong as an ox and fiercely serious about her sport. I wouldn't recommend trying to get the best of her!