Feeling Nervous Again

This past weekend was our families first intramural tournament for our karate program we have been involved in since March. Jonathan, Benjamin and Christine and I are all involved in Tae Kwon Do here in the Boulder area. It is a ton of fun, a great work out and I have learned to defend myself from knife attacks. Very useful in the kitchen.

We drove down to Denver to perform our forms we have been learning in class. There were tons of kids and adults there. It was a neat family environment and super encouraging. Yes, we have entered into interesting sub culture of karate. Jonathan and Benjamin both competed in the form Chon Ji. Jonathan got a first place finish and Benjamin a finalist award.

Christine also, who is super good and performs real well got a first place finish too. She performed Kama 1, which is a weapon form. Pretty cool stick deal with a sickle looking blade on it. She is kick butt and watch out or she'll scissor kick you in the head.

The funniest part of the day for me was that I felt super nervous to compete against 5 other men. What we have to do is in our ring, walk up, bow, and say a little presentation to start our form, kama 1. I walked up, felt pretty good and then my brain went to mush. I was so nervous. It was like I don't ever public speak in front of 100's of students each week.

I did my form, did it okay and fortunately I had more nervous guys in my group. So by default I won first place. But in all the experiences of the day, it felt good again to be a bit uncomfortable, nervous, and beside myself. I'm sure as I lead our ministry, family and interact with those that don't know Jesus yet this is where God wants me. Not feeling confident in myself, nervous and a bit queasy. It was a reminder to trust in God in all I do.