I am not fun, but I can choose joy.

I do not exude fun. I would not use fun or funny in a list of adjectives about me. In fact, most of the time I feel like a joy suck in my home as the one who keeps everyone moving, keeps things tidy, sticks to the schedule and ensures things get done. I walk the line between a cruise director facilitating all the fun and the warden ensuring people are on task.

Our Kuwaiti “daughter”, who was 16 and living with us for the year used to say “uh oh, moms using her sing song voice,” which meant I was going to tell them all about something that was GOING to be fun, even if they didn’t think it would be fun. It is a mixture of Mary Poppins with some falsetto.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

When I think about Jesus’ life I often forget how much he enjoyed the life he was living. He spent much of his time with his closest friends, he shared meals, he drank wine (Luke 7:34), he sat around a camp fire (John 21:9), he reclined at a table (Matthew 9) , he celebrated at wedding receptions and other parties (Luke 5:29, Luke 19.) Jesus came to the earth on mission with a clear purpose. But his time on the earth that we are to model fully enjoyed his life. His enjoyment of life never contradicted his ministry, nor did it ever choose self over others. His enjoyment of life always intertwined his character and his purpose.

Though I still may not add funny to my top 10 attributes, I want others to desire to know the Jesus I love because of the joy that characterizes my life.