Clowning Around

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I have a personal distaste for clowns. Now, it's not a fear necessarily, ya' know? I just don't love them. It's like how a person might have a distaste for sushi or pasta. They aren't afraid the food is gonna jump off their plates and eat them first or anything. They just don't prefer to eat those things. In the same way, I just don't prefer anything about a clown.

It wasn't until about three weeks ago that I realized my childhood Idol was essentially a clown: Loonette from The Big Comfy Couch. So, you could imagine how said realization wrecked my world. How could a cute little girl with a big read nose be bad? The red nose should have been a dead giveaway. But I digress.

Once a week Every week, specifically Wednesdays, we participate in Children's ministries at a variety of of family shelters. There, we paint faces and nails, tell stories, put on skits with puppets, blow bubbles, throw Frisbee, make bracelets, and I bet you guessed it... dress up as clowns.

When I was told that it was my night to be the clown, my heart stopped. I mean, Why on Earth would I want to dress up as something I had such a strong distaste for? None of the kids were gonna like me. In fact, they'd be so afraid of me. So as I was thinking of a way to get out of clowning around, Loonette popped into my head. Maybe I don't ave be scary. I could be cute, and fun! Just like Loonette. Here's what I came up with:

The things I were worried about meant nothing to the kids. They all loved it! I played with all of them outside for what seemed to be hours. We ran around the soccer field screaming, yelling, and acting a fool. I was just being what those kids needed: a breath of fresh air.

In the van on the way home, the Lord said to me, Just like Jonah. Confused, I asked what that was supposed to mean when He replied, Jonah never wanted to go to Nineveh. In fact, he had quite the distaste for going...

I guess being a clown isn't as bad as being swallowed by a big fish.

Peace,

Rachel