God's Gift Of Humor

This morning Shannon took our Allie to the vet to have her ACL repaired. She will have to stay overnight at the vet's office, and possibly one extra day as well.

If you have read this blog even one time, then you know how much we all love her. We all agree that she is the "favorite" person in our family.:) Just ask her, and she will tell you.:)




We have all been praying for her surgery to go well and for an easy recovery. If you feel led to do so today, please pray for her. And pray for us; it is so hard just leaving her at the vet's office all alone. It breaks my heart that she cannot "see" us; I have prayed that God would comfort her heart with our presence. Unlike a human, you can't explain to her that she will be coming back home. As far as she is concerned, she has just been abandoned there. And that breaks my heart.

I have been talking to God quite a bit about all of the circumstances that are overwhelming me right now, while being bedridden (with good hair), and He has given me so many words of comfort.

When I was in the hospital, my mom gave me a little calendar called "Caring Thoughts." It is a calendar for a mother to give her daughter. It is filled with wonderful quotes and sayings.

One in particular this week really struck me.

"Humor lifts burdens you thought were once to heavy to carry."

I am so thankful that God has given me the gift of humor. When I am going through a difficult situation, I know that I am going to be okay, once I am able to laugh at myself or the ridiculousness of the current circumstance.

Whenever Shannon and I disagree with one another, humor helps us heal. As long as we can laugh at the situation and ourselves, we know that we are going to be all right.

Scripture gives many examples of laughter in remarkable circumstances with God.
Genesis 21:5 says:
"Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!"

Notice how Sarah said God had "blessed" her with laughter.
Humor and the laughter that follows are blessings from God.
Abraham and Sarah's situation of having a child in their old ages was so absurd, that when the promise came true, and Isaac was born, Sarah could not contain her laughter. It was not mocking or disrespectful laughter; it was joyful laughter at the unbelievable goodness of God.

With my current situation being anything but funny, I desperately need to keep an attitude of humor and find some form of joy and laughter in all things.

Proverbs 17:22 says:
"A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones."

In my Women's Devotional Study Bible 2, there is a devotional titled, "Celebrating Laughter." The author of this passage is Emilie Barnes.

In this devotional, Emilie Barnes says, "Laughter is a gift of God that brightens our good times and lightens the rough ones. Laughter even has a healing quality to it. People have recovered from serious diseases by learning to laugh each day. Even more people have regained the courage to go on in painful circumstances when they were able to laugh."

She goes on to say that if you live a life that does not have laughter in it, then you are setting the stage for depression, and depression can lead to many other types of illnesses and problems.

She encourages everyone to cultivate the spirit of celebration in our lives. She says to make room for laughter. Deliberately seek it out. Smile at someone. Find something worth laughing about. She says, "As the laughter permeates your life, the spirit of celebration will take root in your heart and you will discover the meaning of another proverb: "The cheerful heart has a continual feast.." Proverbs 15:15.

I don't always succeed in having a cheerful heart, but I do always try. Sometimes I quickly find my laughter, but sometimes it takes me much longer.
I am a very slow work in progress.

As the parents of two teenagers, Shannon and I have to keep a sense of humor, or we would be nothing but dried up bones, like the Proverb says.:)
Sometimes when our boys are acting like lunatics teenagers, we just look at each other and laugh and say, "If we don't love them, who will?" :)

Laughter doesn't necessarily change the situation, but it definitely changes our perspective. The problems don't seem so large and overwhelming when you can find your gift of laughter.

The last couple of months, I have gone from crying to laughing more times than I can tell you, and it is such a relief when I finally do laugh.
So many blogs that I read are so spiritually uplifting. The words that are used are like poetry. I have often longed to have that type of writing skill. I would love to be eloquent with my words, but I have finally realized that being eloquent in speech is not one of the gifts that God gave me. I am now trying to just embrace who I am and work with it.

Lately life has not necessarily been "funny," but I am still trying to find the humor in all of the circumstances that we are facing right now.

The hope that I have for my blog is first and foremost to honor God, and beyond that, I hope that when you stop by here you will leave with a smile on your face, or laughter in your heart. Humor is such an incredible gift from God, and I pray that I am able to share that gift with all of you. Even when we are all overwhelmed with everything that there is to do in life, there is always time for laughter.

Seek it out. Be deliberate about it. And if today finds you down, sad, or discouraged, just remember you are not alone; we all struggle from time to time trying to find our gift of laughter. But, if all else fails, once I am no longer bedridden (with good hair), and can get out of the house, call me. I'll get all dressed up and meet you at Starbucks....We can have some delicious, over-priced coffee and some good Godly conversation filled with laughter.

And if you have trouble spotting me at Starbucks, remember, I'm the girl who never quite achieves the look I am going for when I get dressed up, so I usually stand out in a crowd.:)



I'm just saying is all.:)

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

Thank you all again for your prayers for me and my family.
I have just been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love.
I will also keep you posted on Allie. Hopefully, the vet will call us soon to tell us how she is.

God Bless,
Amy:)