When was the last time you laughed so hard your face hurt? Or you couldn’t catch your breath? This past week, I saw a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time and we were visiting with each other. One thing led to another and we began sharing stories. The tears were starting to come. Then later in the evening we were messaging each other and this time, it seemed to be even more funny, and I could barely catch my breath. It was the type laughter that makes you shake all over. Laughter, I once heard, is good for you, because it massages the heart. Well, my heart was very massaged, till we both logged off the internet. I reflected on the conversation the next day while sharing with others and even then I was still laughing. It felt so good. Do you have friends or family in your life that make you laugh like that? I don’t mean a chuckle and a smile on your face, but the kind that causes you to not be able to stand up and are bent over laughing? Do we take time to do those things? Should we take time to do those things? Or is that a time waster?
Last Sunday, while getting ready for church, I left my beloved Maggs outside for a few minutes while I checked the chickens and fed the cats. When I came out of the henhouse, I immediately knew something was wrong. Her tail was straight up and head down at an angle. As I got closer, I was shocked at what I saw. She was in a mud puddle, from the storm we had the night before. She was digging and digging. Mud was flying everywhere. She looked up at me and if she could speak English, she would have said, “you look so angry, what seems to be the problem?” She was having the time of her life! She didn’t want to leave the mud hole. She didn’t care she looked a mess, and she certainly didn’t care I was wearing a white shirt and getting ready to leave. She looked up at me with pitiful eyes. I had a choice to make. Discipline her so it never happened again. Pen her up so she couldn’t get in it anymore. Or I could simply sit beside her and let her have fun. I did just that. She had the time of her life. She dug so hard and fast, she was actually out of breath. Once she got finished, she brought out a treasure…..a rock. She laid it by her feet and began to relax. I went and got the camera. I rinsed her off and she loved that too, because next to her family, is anything that deals with water.
Why didn’t I make her stop you ask? You see, I saw something different in her eyes that day. She wasn’t trying to be bad. She wasn’t trying to get away with something she knew was wrong. She simply was having fun. I learned in that moment, we get so busy with “stuff”. Good stuff mind you. But stuff. We don’t take time to play, laugh, or have fun. We seem to think, some day, all the stuff with slow down and that is when we will just relax and have fun. Do we really take time to laugh and play?
Two verses I came across that help me with this is: Ecc. 3:4 “A time to cry and a time to laugh.” Also, Matthew 19:14 – “But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
Christ in his ministry here on earth was constantly dealing with people. Teaching, healing, praying, and leading by example. The crowds followed him wherever he went. But when the children came to him, he didn’t chase them away. I know that this verse has more of a deeper meaning and lesson for us adults. But picture that verse happening, before it was recorded. Picture a bunch of little kids running and jumping on his lap. Picture the giggles and squeals of laughter. They must have trusted him, or they would have stayed by their parents side. I picture the Creator of the World, laughing His head off with those kids. I picture the stress of the day, just washing away while they climbed all over him. I don’t recall too many times in my life, when around a small child, not laughing at something they did or said. I love this moment in scripture. If God, as the Creator, created us with the ability to laugh, I believe He himself can laugh at times. I know it is hard to do. We think of him as being in control of all things, which He is. And this would make you picture someone who is always serious. So, to think of Him laughing, just seems to not be how we picture him. Yet, why not? I think He took time to laugh with his disciples and with his family.
So, at the beginning of today’s post, I asked you if you take time to laugh and should we take time? Yes, indeed we should. I pray you have opportunity this week to do just that. You know what, if we take time to laugh and do those things that make us relax, we can get through the stressful stuff much easier. I had some stressful moments this week, did you? When was the last time you laughed so hard your face hurt or you couldn’t catch your breath? Or maybe it has been years since you made mud pies....Maggie would help if you need any! Maybe you have a favorite movie that just makes you really laugh, blow the dust off the cover and watch it this weekend. If you can’t remember the last time you did any of this, it is time my friend to do it again. (We have plenty of mud if you need any....)
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