Going After Laughter, Post #21

March 25, 2014

Going After Laughter, Post #21

When is the last time you laughed, truly belly laughed? Do you take yourself too seriously?

I love to laugh and make others laugh. Laughter and smiles are universal. It makes me smile to hear other people or children laughing.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” –Proverbs 17:22

According to an article by the Mayo Clinic, a good laugh has great short-term effects like stimulating your heart, lungs, and muscles, increasing endorphins, soothing tension. Long-term effects from laughter may improve your immune system, relieve pain, improve your mood, lessen your depression and anxiety.

Clean, good-humored laughter truly is the best medicine. Just smiling makes you even more attractive.

Do you surround yourself with people or even one friend who lifts your spirits and laughter comes easily? If not, intentionally set times to spend time with someone or people with whom you can laugh.

Laughter is throughout the Bible. One of my favorite stories is when God told Abraham and his wife Sarah that they would have a baby when they were ages 100 years old and 90 years old, respectively. Needless to say, Sarah laughed—at God. She conceived and bore a son and named the baby “Isaac,” which means…. Laughter.

“Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.’” –Genesis 21:6 NIV 1984

“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 us, and we are filled with joy.’” –Psalm 126:2-3 NIV 1984

May you be encouraged to smile and laugh more, and to make others laugh. It sure does lighten the room, lighten your heart, lighten your marriage, and those around you.

Relax, smile, get ready to laugh.

Here’s a clean joke for you:

Little Johnny was sitting in Sunday School one day when his teacher was teaching about Noah and the ark and all the animals.

She asked “With all that water from the Flood, do you think many fish were caught from Noah’s ark?”

Johnny quickly answered, “Of course not.”

“Why not, Johnny? It would be so easy to catch fish,” his teacher asked.

Johnny said matter-of-factly, “Noah only had two worms.”

Reflect:

–What will you do to laugh more?

Renew:

–“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” –Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV 1984

Recharge:

–Name three positive people in your life who lift your spirits. Make an appointment to see them and spend time.

Resource:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456

March 18, 2014

We Are Perennials, Post #20

After Easter last year, I drove by the 300+-year-old church cemetery near my home and noticed a pile of about 20 or so Easter lilies, all sadly discarded, unloved, awaiting their trashly demise.

I wheeled in, pulled over, spread out my yoga mat in my trunk and placed every one of those plants in my trunk. You see, an Easter lily is a perennial. It will come back to life each year and bloom. So many people, so many churches, throw them away after Easter, thinking their purpose is done. I hauled them all home, gave some of them to neighbors who wanted to reuse/replant them. Mom and I planted the rest in my yard and some at the end of my street. It thrills my soul to now see them popping up from the ground, almost a year later. They are destined to bloom again.

Do you ever feel like a discarded Easter lily? I do. God looks at us as perennials. We may have our personal wilting, decaying periods, but He sees our potential. He knows when we are tended and nurtured, we will grow and bloom again and again.

Last year I learned yet another sweet lesson from my precious Mom, the horticulturist. She came over to my home to help plant some caladium bulbs, which we both love in our yards. She brought eight bags of bulbs, a total of 64 bulbs to plant. One by one, we dug a hole, scooped the soil in, planted the bulb, fertilized, and watered. We planted them all around my big oak tree in the front yard, then the rest along the front flower bed.

When we finished, she did something I had not remembered her doing before. She offered to pray for them, for the newly planted caladium bulbs. As we both stood in the front yard, sweaty, knees covered with dirt from kneeling, she offered a prayer that I can still hear:

“Dear Lord, they’re in the ground now. Please help these bulbs grow well and thrive so that Danya and her neighbors can enjoy Your beauty. Thank You for creating even these bulbs that remind us of You. Thank you, Lord. We love You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

I had a lump in my throat as we picked up our yard tools and cleaned ourselves off inside the garage. I had no doubt those bulbs would come up, their elephant-ear faces smiling toward heaven. They grew and flourished, every single one.

Have you ever prayed over seeds, bulbs you’ve planted? Do you, do we pray before any endeavor?

Similarly, how do we plant seeds/bulbs of encouragement? I encourage you to start today. It could be smiling at the grocery store cashier, looking her in the eye and asking how she’s doing. It could be to pull your neighbor’s emptied trash receptacle to the side of the house, so that he/she doesn’t have to do it when he comes home from work. It could be inviting your neighbor or coworker to church or Bible study.

We are blessed with endless possibilities of ways to plant seeds of encouragement in people around us. Remember, the Holy Spirit germinates those seeds in His timing. Remember, each of us is a perennial.

Reflect:

–Am I acting like an annual or a perennial?

–What (or whom) have you discarded, not realizing its potential?

–How can I plant seeds or bulbs of encouragement ?

Renew:

–“Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” –1 Corinthians 3:5-7 NIV 1984

Recharge:

–Consider praying before every endeavor. Please comment.

February 18, 2014

Vignettes of Love–Part 3: Parent Judy, Child Tim & Cerebral Palsy, Post #16

The saying goes that we can pick our friends but we can’t pick our families. I am so thankful my family was picked for me. I have some precious jewels as family members. My first cousin Judy and her son Tim are examples of good people, good friends, good family members, and they have taught the world how to demonstrate love beautifully.

Tim was born with cerebral palsy in 1963. Tim’s doctors told the family he wouldn’t be able to walk. Judy’s parents, Tim’s grandparents, lived down the street from me growing up. They built a “walkway” with little handrails for Tim to prove the doctors and everyone wrong. With much prayer and perseverance, at three years old, Tim walked. No is not an option with the Lord and perseverance as your rear guard.

Over the years, it has been a joy to watch Judy, her husband and family love on Tim and encourage him. I watched Tim graduate from high school in 1983. One of Tim’s most proud accomplishments was receiving his degrees from Cape Fear Community College, a degree in Business Administration (1999) and Accounting (2001). We celebrated Tim’s 40^th birthday in 2003 and 50th in 2013.

Like many in our family, Tim has such a servant heart and strong work ethic; he works at Easter Seals. Tim is brilliant. Although his speech is slurred, when you look into his big hazel eyes, you can understand him perfectly.

In December 2006, Tim had a stroke leaving him paralyzed except his left hand. His caregiver, Scott, taught him how to bowl using a ramp to assist him. Tim competed for two years in the NC State Olympics Bowling Tournament. In 2012, he received a first place medal and in 2013, a third place medal.

It’s touching to watch how much the lavishing love of family and friends can bolster a soul, bolster a whole life, like Tim’s. They dance (Judy and her husband dance like professionals), laugh, pray together, eat supper together, go to church together, serve others together.

One detail I left out is that Tim’s mother Judy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, and continues to fight her stage four breast cancer while taking care of Tim and her family, her friends, her neighbors. Judy said, “It breaks my heart to watch my child struggle with his special needs but nothing like the pain God felt when His only son was nailed to that cross.”

Through her doctor’s visits and chemo treatments, Judy’s effervescent, positive, Godly perspective still encourages Tim, her family and friends–all of us.

Another inspiring Godly parent and child relationship is that of Dick and his son Richard Hoyt. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting them, their story resonates in my heart. Richard was born with severe cerebral palsy. He and his Dad Dick enjoy triathlons. Dick carries Richard all the way, pulling him in the ocean as they swim, pushing him as they run, and carrying him on his bicycle for the cycling portion of the race.

Isn’t that a perfect image of how our Heavenly Father, our Abba—which means “Daddy”—carries us?

Just like God chose Judy, Tim and me to be part of the same family, and Dick and Richard Hoyt, God chooses us as part of His family. The love shared between Judy and Tim, Dick and Richard, is a touching example of the love God shares for us as His imperfect children. You are chosen. Feel the love.

“Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” –Mark 9:7

Enjoy this inspiring video link of Dick and Richard Hoyt’s persevering journeys together.

Father and Son Persevere in Triathlon

Reflect:

–What can you learn from the loving relationship of Judy and Tim, Dick and Richard Hoyt? Please comment below.

–How can you love differently based on this?

Renew:

–“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” –Isaiah 46:4

–“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.” –John 15:16

Recharge:

–Seek out one family member, friend or neighbor to lavish love on this week and beyond.

–Open your Bible and feel your Abba, Heavenly Daddy, loving on you, speaking to you.