Psalm 126
"When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with LAUGHTER, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy"
Jennifer and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary on August 12th. My one piece of advice for every new couple getting married is this ---be sure and LAUGH together as much as possible. Laughter can get you through a lot of difficult moments. Just don't laugh at the wrong times.
We were driving back on our 1300 mile trip from the East Coast. After a long day of potty breaks, crumbled gold fish crackers , pillow fights in the back seat, not enough clean pacifiers, and a car smelling like 2 days of french fries. Jennifer had been pushed to the limit and broke through the bickering with this phrase "We're not stopping for diarrhea!" I looked at her, a little shocked by what had come out of her mouth and then bursted with laughter. When these phrases come up, I like to keep a log of them, and reuse them whenever possible. This was a classic and I won't be letting go of this anytime soon.
So when the 5th child douses himself in powdered sugar and uses a pack of thawed, yet uncooked hot dogs as a teething toy, When the 4th child is collecting a small fortune of smarties in the air vents, the 3rd child is literally climbing the walls, and 1 & 2 are having a disagreement over who is the meanest, then what can you do but laugh...It's more than good medicine.
Find somebody you can laugh with....We need more laughter in the church....when's the last time you laughed until it hurt...... fill your home with laughter, because there's enough difficult stuff in this world. In fact, try this: mark down every time that you worry about something today ---and for every worry that you have ---find a joke to share with someone. For where there is laughter, there is joy.
And if you run out of jokes, ask our pastor .....he's got some good ones.
Taste and See that the Lord is good. ---have fun with this tune.
the levite
4 comments:
To the Levite, I cannot tell you how much I've enjoyed your postings this week. And just think what great material you and Jennifer are gathering if you want to write a book about the fun, if challenging experiences of raising your children. Your book could make people laugh. And when these little munchkins have grown into wonderful adults, you and Jennifer could go for a cruise with the proceeds from the book.
I love it!! Laughter truly is "the best medicine".
My mother was in a nursing home for about a year before she passed away due to a brain tumor. Obviously, this was not a funny situation BUT, laughter got our family through it.
On one of our visits my mother told my sister and I that the nurse had told her roommate to check my mom during the night to see if she was "dry". We were shocked and we asked my mom what she did when her roommate "checked her". My mom replied, "I said whoa! whoa! whoa! Get your hands out of my pants!" We laughed so hard and, like your diarrhea story, we use that phrase every once in a while and laugh all over again.
I'm convinced that God's purpose for me was to make people smile or laugh and that makes me happy. ; )
Just keep in mind you have 5 children. When you start laughing loudly and hysterically, someone may decide it's time to put you in a home.
Tonia
actually it was 3300 miles....not that I was counting or anything....
~jb
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