I’m a Pro Wrestler

This was originally posted on March 02, 2011.  

Most of you probably don’t know this about me yet; but, I am a professional wrestler.  It’s true.  My pro wrestler name is Outlaw Monk and I’m telling you that you don’t want to mess around with me.  I’m scheduled for two on one wrestling matches in the thunder dome about 2 times a week.  Sometimes I’m asked and reminded while other times I just come in with a blaze of fury and knock some heads around.

Truth be told, I’m lying to you.  No one other than the man in the mirror calls me Outlaw Monk, and I am most certainly not a professional.  I do wrestle with 2 little people about twice a week.  Their names are Noah- “Dash Snake”, and Grace- “Outlaw Pounder”.  They are 5 and 4 years old.  And in their eyes I probably am the Outlaw Monk.  In fact I might start whispering that in their ears while they are sleeping, “The Outlaw Monk is coming to getcha!”  It has a nice ring to it.

Last night at Biblical Seminary, in my Genesis class, we were talking about Jacob and his wrestling match with God.  One of the questions we thought about was, “Why did God choose to wrestle with Jacob.  Why not play chess, or croquet?”  I’m not going to answer that for you.  I want you to tell me why you think God chose wrestling.

This morning I was thinking about why I wrestle with my kids.  I have come up with at least five reasons.

1. To hug them for extended periods of time. When we wrestle, we are linked up in a very intimate way, grappling with one another, trying to push and shove the other into a hold.  It gives me time to just hug my kids and in a way say, “I love you: Now let me kick your butt.”
2. I want to wear down their energy. I remember being a little boy when energy was abundant and often overflowing that there were times when you just had to run around and get it out.  When you combine to much energy with being pent up in the house, that usually leads to little boys getting in trouble.  So to avoid this, we wrestle till we are both tired.  It keeps us both out of trouble.  🙂
3. I want to make my kids laugh. Call me crazy, but I love to hear my kids laugh.  It brightens my day and can make me forget about even the most difficult of situations.  Ironicaly, last night Pete Wilson, tweeted this: “Rough day today. Amazing though how 30 minutes of wrestling with my boys brings a little perspective.”  It is hard to beat knowing that you are the cause of their laughter and their face lighting up.  It does wonders for me.  Plus, I want my kids to laugh, I want them to enjoy life! (After writing this, I found Pete has blogged about this exact tweet this morning, check it out here.)
4. I want my kids to know how powerful I am. There is a time and a place to let your kids win.  I’m not disputing that.  But when we are wrestling, I can tower over them and bring them immediately to their knees.  I never push them beyond what they can handle, but there are times when they may feel powerless in comparison to me.    I want them to be able to turn to me in moments of weakness thinking that I am powerful enough to help them.  (I realize that I am very limited in my power and strength)
5. I want to see how they will do. I want to know if they will give up quickly or if they will push through with endurance.  I want to see if they can figure a way out of the Outlaw Monk’s death grip.  I want to see if they will push back.  In some ways I guess I am testing them.

In short, I wrestle with my kids because I love them.

So what do you think?  Why did God choose to wrestle with Jacob?  Are there any correlations to dad’s wrestling with their kids?  If your a parent do you wrestle with your kids?  If so, why?

~The Outlaw Monk

Side Note: [If you are in need of a pro wrestler name, check out www.wrestlingname.com for some help and guidance, or just for a good laugh. By the way Tiffany’s name according to wrestlingname.com is “Double Tornado” I thought that was funny seeing as how she is 31 weeks pregnant.]