Delightful

(Written July 17, 2012) My husband and I have been married for 10 years next month.  No small accomplishment considering I have been hormonal, pregnant, or nursing more than 2/3 of that time.  We’ve had a lot of challenges to overcome simply because we are from two different cultures.  Different food, different languages, different customs, and different childhoods.   Compromise has been the secret to our success.  We eat Asian food half of the time and American food the other half.  Don speaks to the kids in Vietnamese while I speak in English.  Compromise, out of love for each other, has been the foundation of our relationship.

One of the small things I learned to “give on” in the beginning of our relationship was humor.  Overall, I'm a low-key kinda gal but I like to drop a joke once in a while.  Well, more than once in a while (but we'll get to that).  Early in our marriage I realized that Don was less than amused by my humor.  He wasn't trying to stifle me.  He just frankly didn't get it.  He didn't understand American humor and had never really heard of the slang that I thought was so funny.  So, I just learned to communicate with him differently and kept the bathroom jokes to a minimum (until I had boys old enough to laugh at them).

Something beautiful happened the other night.  During a serious moment, I blurted out some kind of silliness, and Don laughed at me.  Not the usual chuckle of acknowledgement, but a belly laugh!!  If he weighed more than 47 pounds, I'd say his belly jiggled, but no chance of that one.  Anyway, I asked him why he was laughing and he said I was funny and that he had gotten used to me over the years.  I cannot tell you how much that laugh meant to me.  He was delighted in me.  He savored my words and it gave him joy.  I felt validated and loved.  A priceless moment indeed.

This made me think of a story that a man told recently of an out of body experience he had during surgery.  He was an Atheist, and when he died he was taken to the gates of hell.  Unspeakable injustices were done to him at that place but in a moment he remembered the lyrics to "Jesus Loves Me" that a Sunday school teacher had taught him as a child.  As he sang, Jesus came to him and saved him from that horrific fate.  He took him to Heaven and communed with him and eventually he was sent back to Earth to live a very different life.  But something that he said during the interview stuck with me.  He talked about a moment when he made a funny remark to Jesus.  My favorite part of the story is that Jesus laughed at him.  The gentleman shared that Jesus is delighted with us.  He loves us, He receives our praise and honor, but he also laughs at us.

When I think of this, I think of Jesus as a parent.  How many times have I laughed when one of my kids muttered a word incorrectly or stumbled while learning to walk.  The innocence and immaturity of their efforts can be heart-warming.  Watching them try brings us joy, and their missteps are soon forgotten. What honor to know that Jesus delights in us!  We cannot make him NOT love us.  Yes, He challenges us.  Yes, He convicts us.  But, He also delights in us.  The confidence in his delight and unfailing love gives us the courage to get back up when we fail because "Daddy" is watching.  Watching with a smile on his face.

My heart is full knowing this truth.  My life is changed having this confidence.   I am challenged and more passionate than ever to make him proud of me because I know that his delight in me is unearned.  It is free and it is mine. 

Zephaniah 3:17
"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."