Life-size Laughter

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Psalm 126:2 

Have you ever played life-size Jenga? Our family had the chance to play together with 4 generations when visiting Wisconsin. In usual Midwest style, we had a cookout and gathered in the garage to eat, laugh, and play. With lots of encouragement from the crowd, we built our towers so high that the youngest had to stand on a stool to reach the top of the giant Jenga tower!  It scared the dogs when those life-size towers tumbled to the ground! We had so much fun and laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. Most of us realized we hadn’t laughed like that in a very long time. It was very cleansing to laugh and play together and a great reminder that we need moments like that!  

The people of God in Psalm 126 rejoiced with laugher and joy after being blessed by God following some very hard times. Lately, these days can feel pretty heavy, and we need to create opportunities for play and laughter in the midst of our worries, fears, and sadness. The author of Ecclesiastes sums it up perfectly, “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” The times to weep and mourn are usually out of our control and come to us at unexpected times, while we need to intentionally create opportunities to laugh and to dance. When is the last time you really laughed?

My hope and prayer for you is life-size laughter that makes your belly ache and your face hurt. Even in the hardest of times, I pray the Spirit leads us to find blessings and creates signs of joy around us.  

Laugh out loud, Pastor Andrea