This means so much to me. It was 3 years ago when I first stepped out on to the mat in our dojo. I was...well...a klutz.
I can't thank Soke Marx, founder of Keichu-Do, enough. On my first day, he didn't think I'd last a week. But he was kind enough to keep that opinion to himself. Instead, he and his wonderful instructors taught me with great love, enthusiasm, and lots of patience. They made me believe that I could do the seemingly impossible. Thank you, sir. You've turned my life around in ways I can't begin to express.
I'd like to thank my six wonderful children. They got me out on the mat in the first place and they're my favorite training partners. I wish my husband was here to thank in person. He's not only put up with my martial arts obsession, but has cheerfully and generously sacrificed so that our family can compete.
Thanks to all of you who make the USKA possible.
But, most of all, I owe eternal thanks to my sweet and precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Him I live and move and have my being.
I wish that I could have had the privilege of being in Keichu-Do when I was that clumsy little girl. The course of my life would have been much different. I would have been spared a lot of childhood misery. I would have had the confidence to fight my own battles, to be a victor rather than a victim. Or maybe I really don't wish that. The reward of overcoming --- of proving myself wrong most of all --- ah, who could trade that for the world?
Sometimes, I felt like running into the streets and shouting, "Send us your discouraged children, your klutzes, your nerds, your clumsy bumblers!"
O.K., so it sounds corny and overly dramatic. But it's an important part of my journey. It's a big part of why I love teaching so much. I keep looking for kids like me, whose lives will be turned around, who will find healing and wholeness because someone believed they worth teaching...and teaching...and teaching...for however long it takes. I want those kids to become champions, even if they never win a trophy. I want them to live out their impossible dreams. I want them to become true Keichu warriors.
I am convinced that if we reach those wounded children and adults, truly reach them, we can be used of God to bring about incredible transformations. If we can be God's instruments of healing in their lives, so that they can experience a healing that is mental, physical, and spiritual, we can capture their hearts forever --- not just for Keichu, but for Christ.
When many were abandoning Christ during His earthly ministry, He asked His disciples if they too would desert Him. "Where shall we go?" Peter asked. "You alone have words of eternal life." Of course, the good news of the gospel can be heard throughout our country. But we have a powerful ministry in Keichu-Do that is unique in that it targets the whole person in a way that few other ministries can.
Some students catch the vision for ministry that Keichu-Do offers. I think it is those whose lives are most transformed --- those who find healing in the dojo --- who are most eager to share that ministry with others.
Soke has sometimes commented that he wishes he could bottle my determination in training. It's really simple, I've finally realized. Because of the path God has directed me along, I have no choice. This is where my heart belongs. This is where I have found a wholeness I never thought possible. Where else could I go? How could I possibly not continue to train, not see where this adventure will take me?
I believe in the ministry of Keichu-Do so strongly because of the many blessings it has brought to me and to our family. I want other families to experience those blessings: to be challenged, tested, and refined; to learn to face fear; to be able to defend themselves; to gain physical, mental, and spiritual strength; to develop self-discipline and perseverance; to take on the character code of the Keichu warrior; to become more like Jesus as we grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. I want them to find healing for their broken places. I want our family to continue to reap those blessings and more as we devote ourselves totally to Him and, in the name of Jesus, pass the torch of Keichu-Do on to the next generation.
-adapted from How God Directed My Path, Rebecca Prewett's black belt thesis.
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