Wherever you go, (in my philosophy of life), you have to make your own fun. Rarely does life just hand you frivolity and because of that, we are almost wholly responsible for finding and / or manufacturing our own fun. I was just reading a devotion that discussed happiness and how happiness is the byproduct of doing something meaningful. It went on to look in depth at how living in the Spirit and walking in God’s Will brings a deep joy (and happiness) into our souls. I agree with this, certainly. However. That is not at all what I’m talking about this morning.
What I’m talking about is when life is hard or the day is mundane and humdrum, or I’m verging on bored or crabby and Karl grabs me, sings a ‘ditty’ in my ear and dances with me around the kitchen. Or hanging out laundry and being worried about life’s troubles and then noticing one of the neighbor’s turkeys standing right behind me with the blank silly face that only a turkey can have, and laughing out loud.
A couple of late afternoons ago, Karl and I had just finished trimming about twenty five miles of overgrowth at the side of our road (ok, it was about two hundred feet, but it took hours, I ran into stinging nettles several times, and I was filthy and tired and HOT so it felt like miles…) Anyway, we were surveying our work and talking about the construction that will soon begin to shore up our hill and keep our house from falling over the edge. My body was tired, by legs ached and I was feeling overwhelmed. While we were standing there, I noticed an iguana sunning himself on a limb. Now I’ve talked about iguanas before. They are so pre-historic looking – mini godzillas that do damage to our yard and dig holes in our hill. We do not appreciate iguanas much. So the fact that this arrogant fellow was at his leisure on one of my tree branches when I was so dirty and tired was enough to just tick me off. Clearly, Karl felt the same way.
Karl picked up a rock and, channeling his younger days of playing baseball and softball, he threw a fastball straight at that relaxing lizard and knocked it right off the branch! Yay! One for us. Then, of course, the fun was on. We forgot how tired we were (sort of) and began hunting for tree top iguanas. By the time Karl’s arm was tired and we couldn’t find any more near us, my pitching ace mate had knocked three more of the handsome reptiles totally out of the trees they were enjoying and annoyed three others enough that they climbed down on their own. We had no illusions that he’d done any damage to his targets other than simply aggravating them, but by the time we were done and heading up the hill to the house for a shower, we were both laughing and congratulating ourselves on not only ridding the trees of iguanas but also a good days’ work done.
I can’t really think of a place in the Bible that talks about fun. There’s not a commandment about it. I can’t imagine the likes of Abraham or Solomon playing practical jokes, or dancing in the kitchen or lobbing stones at iguanas (though I do think David, who danced with all his might would certainly understand!). But I know for sure that the ability to have fun is a God-given blessing. So here’s my advice for the week: Make your own fun!
