Just Laugh

I absolutely LOVE to laugh! If you know me at all, you know I love "punnies". Those are made up words or phrases created to remind me to laugh. I have to be a little more careful being married to Ridley. I will never forget the gasp I let out in church one Sunday when he was preaching and said "hairy butt satan". That is the nickname this satan-hatin' wife uses to fuss at the enemy.

We can love Jesus and laugh. It's ok. It's in the Bible. I mean look at Abraham in Genesis 17:17 "Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?" Of course, if you were in the middle of an in depth study, you would pick up on the fact that his doubt was evidence of some unbelief. However, take a minute and think about how Abraham was feeling and then think about God's response. He had to chuckle.

We do it as parents. I remember a time when I was so frustrated with my daughter that I hid in my closet. She recruited her sister to help find me. I could hear them calling my name throughout the house as their voices got louder and louder. I think they began to panic at one point and I found myself chuckling in the dark. Bad mother.

There are those moments where life is so serious and so heavy that you just long for a laugh. There are many times I call Ridley at work and tell him to come home and make me laugh. He knows that means the day has been tough or I have had too much big girl stuff. He has even gotten pretty good at making his own punnies. I love that he makes me laugh. I am still laughing at something he said 4 nights ago. I was quietly praying outloud in the dark of the night, thinking he was asleep. He softly asked, "Are you talking to that other man in your life again?". Jesus and I were in time out at that moment because Ridley likes his sleep, but I love that he chose to make me laugh.

Then, there are those moments where the pain is so deep you forget how to laugh. If you have heard me speak, I have shared about a day I was using all the physical and mental energy I had to drive home from a long day at the office. I was in the middle of my divorce at the time. My cell phone rang and I saw the familiar number of my friend. When I answered, she immediately said, "I have a verse for you." Relief came in a rush and I pulled my car over to the side of the road. I grabbed a pen and a file folder in my seat as I desperately got ready for what she was about to share. I said, "I'm ready!" She said, "It is Proverbs 11:22". She continued, "An adulterous woman is like a gold ring in a pig's snout". There was silence. I guess I was waiting for the big WOW moment. I was the victim of an adulterous woman but I wasn't sure about the whole gold ring/pig thing. Then in a louder than normal voice for my friend, she finished with "I bet it has a booger on it". She immediately began laughing and snorting on the phone while she commanded me to go home and write booger in my Bible. I have never fogotten that moment. In that season, amazing verses were shared that were really great words of healing, but that day I felt hope in laughing again. To this day, "booger" is written in my Bible.

Several pages over from Proverbs 11 in Proverbs 14:13 it says "Even in laughter the heart may ache". If your heart is aching today, pick up the phone or your Bible and put in a request for a good laugh.