“I love to laugh, loud and long and clear… The more I laugh, the more I fill with glee, and the more the glee, the more I’m a merrier me!” —from Mary Poppins
April Fool’s Day has come and, thankfully, gone. I’m not a lover of pranks and I’m not really sure why this of all holidays possible has become one of the ones that’s standardly found on a calendar.
If it was called National Day of Laughter, however, then I’d be behind it full throttle. You have to admit: laughter is powerful stuff.
I was recently reminded at a funeral memorial, no less, that laughter is a healthy life choice. About a year ago at a baby shower, I was also reminded by another mom that it is important to laugh at spills and mistakes and bumps to help your kids grow up in a happy environment of love and forgiveness instead of a stressful environment of tense “uh-oh” moments.
It’s difficult in the heat of the moment to laugh instead of flare up as the milk and oatmeal go flying across the kitchen, but I’ve definitely found laughter to be the best attitude changer in our family.
My husband’s aunt is a wonderful example of this. Whenever she’s around the kids she’s full of laughter and easily pulls them out of their mood swings and back into being happy kids with a quick game or joke:
- Where’s your toe? I think you’re missing one? Let’s count them and check. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9… Only nine! Where’s the last one?! Oh no! Let’s go find it!
- Hide and seek.
- Close your eyes and listen. What do you hear? Is that a…clock? Is that a…bird? Is that a…door?
- Tickles.
- Sing a song.
And those are just the ones I can think of right now.
We recently read about “The Virtuous Woman” during our morning devotional with the kids (we’ve been reading through Proverbs For Kids From The Book, so it’s an abridged version of Proverbs 31 and may actually include some verses from elsewhere also). I had to laugh because EVERY LINE was either spot on or something I’ve been convicted to work on (comments in brackets are my own!):
“The virtuous woman gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household, [this particular day, unlike other days where my husband lovingly gets up first to make breakfast, I had made pancakes after the kids woke us at 5:30!] and she plans the day’s work for her servant girls [no servant girls here, but I’m definitely the one in charge of planning the day!]. She goes out to inspect a field and buys it [as we’ve started the long search to eventually buy a house, I’ve been the one forwarding my husband any worth looking at]. She is energetic, a hard worker, and watches for bargains [definitely me—though energetic is hard to come by some days]. She works far into the night [yep, yep]! She sews for the poor and generously helps those in need [I’m working on this!]. She has no fear of winter for her household, for she has made warm clothes for all of them [or found them cheap at the thrift store!]. Her own clothing is beautifully made—a purple gown of pure linen [yeah, I wish]. She makes belted linen garments to sell to the merchants [again, learning to sew!]. She is a woman of strength and dignity, and she has no fear of old age [I actually look forward to growing old with my husband!]. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule for everything she says [definitely something I’m working on—pray for me in this!]. She watches carefully all that goes on throughout her household, and she is never lazy [I certainly would never describe myself as lazy—if anything, I have a hard time sitting down for two seconds!]. Her children stand and bless her; so does her husband [I pray this is true!]. He praises her with these words: ‘There are many fine women in the world, but you are the best of all!’ [here when my husband was reading the devo, he paused and said it again—I couldn’t believe that was actually written in the Bible!]. Charm can be deceptive, and beauty doesn’t last, but a woman who fears and honors God shall be greatly praised.”
How about that for hitting home?!
The Bible has a lot to say about joy and laughter:
Proverbs 15:13 says, “A glad heart makes a cheerful face.”
Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Psalm 126:2 says, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.'”
And, of course, Proverbs 31:25 says, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.”
I pray each day that laughter would fill every moment—even the trying ones (especially the trying ones)!