Rejoice…and Laugh!

Laughter really is good medicine!

When did you last laugh? I don’t mean just a little chuckle, but a good belly laugh? I enjoyed several good laughs yesterday.

• I shared a funny story on our family blog.

• I edited two hilarious “this is my daily life” posts, one for our ministers’ wives blog and another for Home Educating Family. Oh my goodness…I can’t wait until those go live and everyone else gets to read them!

• I followed a Facebook conversation between my husband and a couple of friends in which the words to Disney movie songs were changed in hilarious manners! (For the record, since I am writing this “last night,” that conversation is still going on as I type. I have been told that chocolate is in the mail to help with my sanity.)

On the one hand, it would seem that such things would be quite distracting, but it’s amazing how productive my evening was. Despite the fact that I had to stop every thirty minutes or so just to read the latest progressions of hilarity, I soared right through a good bit of editing with great clarity of mind.

Maybe, just maybe, God knew what He was talking about when He commanded us to rejoice!

Even without negative circumstances, daily life alone can weigh us down. A full week. A long to-do list. A week that’s not quite normal (VBS, anyone?). Any number of things can leave us with a weariness settling over our bodies and a tightness into our shoulders. The most routine things take us twice as long as normal because the energy drains from our bodies as focus flees our minds.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I happen to be of the opinion that finding ways to laugh in the midst of normal life is part of rejoicing in the Lord. He created that thing called humor, and He is the one who enables us to laugh. As I laughed through the course of yesterday, I felt my shoulders relax and my tired brain unwind. I felt capable. I can’t say I had a burst of energy that overcame my tiredness, but I did find a modicum of motivation.

I pray that you will find laughter today. I pray that as you find it, you will recognize it as a path to rejoicing. And I pray that, as you rejoice, the weariness, tension, and stress will melt from your shoulders.

Rejoice…and laugh!