Safety. Such a safe word
. This word scares me. I never thought that this word would describe me. But when I got married something shifted inside of me. Ever since I’ve been married, I’ve wanted to provide something safe for my wife. I want her to know that I would do absolutely anything in this world to protect her. But I wonder if I’ve crossed over into the Safety Dance realm.
We can dance if we want to, We can leave your friends behind, ’Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance, Well they’re no friends of mine
I say, we can go where we want to, A place where they will never find, And we can act like we come from out of this world, Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance
Now from what I understand about the song it was about being a pogo-er and pogo-ing in the club. Club ownders didn’t like it and they would kick out the pogo-ers and run them out of the club. First of all, if that’s true, that is a funny story. Secondly and more on topic, it’s pretty relevant to where I am right now. My wife and I are thinking about having children and I’ve got some things that I want to accomplish sometime before I die. I’m 24, I know this might be a weird thing to think about this young, but one thing I’m sure of is this, I’m not sure Safety is the legacy that I want to leave.
The safety dance song is more about reserving the ability to take chances and do what you can. It is safe to dance and I think that the once part of safety that I want to cultivate in my family is not to be safe in our circle, home, city, country, but instead feel the safety to take chances because of knowing that you are in an environment of love.
I know that safety is something that many parents want for their children. I wonder if that desire lines up with Christ? I remember very strongly this quote, about Aslan, from C.S. Lewis in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
“‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver…’Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. but he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’”
I want my family to be people known for following God, whether answering that call is safe or not. Here are some decisions that I want to make one day that will not be safe for my family.
- Go back to school for my Master’s Degree and train to do ministry at a higher level (this costs money, we don’t have any. My first degree was paid for by the school that I attended through scholarship)
- Write a book to young leaders. (You don’t make money writing books. You do spend a lot of time doing it though. Oh yeah, I’m not good at grammar)
- Have Children, raise them to follow God. (nuff said)
- Adopt a child. (yep)
- Take a desert trip where my wife and I can focus on hearing God’s voice moreso than vacation. (yes, sign me up today)
- See students live out their faith in High School that I taught as 3rd graders. (6th graders now)
- Give more than we gave the previous year, every year. (yikes)
I want my children to really grow and know that Jesus Christ is real and that our lives should not only reflect it but also be an experience of it. Can you do this? Is it possible to live an unsafe Christian life and yet still want safety and protection for my wife and future children(God willing)?
