Over the past few weekends with my girls, they have started to make comments at night. Each time as we get ready to watch a movie before bed, typically "Frozen" or "The Princess and the Frog" (they don't seem to realize that I own other animated kids movies), they always say "It's dark out, a monster's coming." I don't know where this has come from, but you can hear the fear in their words. It got to the point this past weekend where they wouldn't go upstairs without me because there was "something scary in our room." Trying to assure them that there is nothing there does not help. I hate seeing the paralyzing fear that overcomes my girls because of something they have imagined.
I've told them over and over, very gently as I hold them close and tight, that nothing can hurt them when they are with their daddy; that the monsters and scary things run away because the scary things are scared of daddy. They hug me tight and for a moment my comments work, but they don't seem to last very long, and the next night they are just as scared to go anywhere alone.
This past weekend I took things to the next level. I'm not going to try to convince them that monsters aren't real, you can't reason with a four and two year old that way, so instead, I'm working to show them how powerful daddy is. I may have mentioned it a few times, but I'm big fan of the ancient Greek Spartans. When I lived in Flint, Michigan I bought a Michigan State hat because it said "Spartans" across the bill (Aaron hates this hat, but it looked awesome when I wore it at Thermopylae). For a long time I wanted a Spartan shield. I'm not someone who typically collects a lot of things that just get displayed, I spent enough time cleaning up the clutter in foreclosed homes for one job I had to fill a place with stuff, but this was symbolic of who God has called me to be, and so a few years ago I found a full size replica on sale and bought it.
When I was going through my divorce, still praying for restoration, I would sometimes hold my shield in front of me, symbolically driving out Satan. At one point I felt that I was being taunted for not having a sword, and so at one point I felt God leading me to buy a sword. I had been looking at a Lakonia short sword for a while, and I would always talk myself out of it, but I really felt God leading me to buy it (He has not given me such a blessing for the custom traditionally made katana I've been looking at for years), and so recently I did. You can see a picture on my personal blog at: https://lionfighters.blogspot.com/
This past weekend, as my girls were in tears over the monsters that were coming for them, I told them that they didn't have to be afraid because daddy was ready to fight the monsters. I set them down and got out my weapons. I put my sword on, and I picked up my shield. Their backs were to the closet, where they are most afraid a monster is going to come from, and I showed them how if a monster were to come, I would take my shield and put it behind them, it covers both of them with plenty of room to spare (this thing is huge, the picture doesn't do it justice), and explained to them how I would use my sword (this didn't get taken out that close to them, it's sharp, and I'm a responsible parent). Immediately the expression on their faces changed; under my shield they smiled, and I think they began to know they were safe.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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