Tacks as a Defense

Tacks are a part of everyday life.  Well, at least the everyday I remember.  I think I see more magnets than tacks these days...

But I digress - tacks are around.

My daughter uses tacks in her bedroom to hang her pictures and posters.  Her MILLIONS of pictures and posters!  :)

Tonight she came downstairs and announced, "Hey!  I know a great defense mechanism!  I will use my bag of tacks and dump them all around me!  Nobody will want to mess with them to get to me!"

Now, I know what she was talking about - she was thinking about protecting herself in the event of some horrible break-in or attack.  (It is sad that an eighth-grader plans for things like that, but that's not a discussion for this post...)

But she said the magical phrase - the red light phrase - 'Defense Mechanism' and my mind went in a different direction.

We use defense mechanisms every day in a variety of ways.

Think of them as tacks.

When we spread tacks out around us to keep people at bay - to keep them from getting too close.  If someone attempts to venture in, we will place tacks in their path, or we will move some out of the way.

What tacks are you using?
          How do you keep people away?  Do you deny that you need them?  Act out so that they will leave you alone?  Do you stuff your feelings and put on a happy face?  Do you make yourself unavailable by not answering the phone and staying home more than you should?
          There are many ways to put out tacks and keep people away.  What are you using?

How many do you have out?
          That's the big question - how many ways do you have for keeping people from getting too close?

We were designed to be social creatures.  We were designed to be in relationship with one another.  Our relationships with one another help us build a relationship with God.

Think about those tacks and what you can do to remove a few.  Let a few more in to be close.  A nice challenge....