Laughter

Humor has blessed our family.

The first years of our marriage were intense. Marriage, moving, new jobs, dealing with past hurt, learning to love each other. None of it was easy and the negative emotions that came with all of it felt intense at times. When we reminisce over the years that followed, we see God at work in our marriage. God has used the wisdom of counselors and friends, the power of His word, the gift of community and the reality of His Gospel to break through hard places. Learning to apply the reality of the Gospel to our lives transformed us. We grew in empathy and kindness, being slower to speak and quicker to listen and communicate with intention. But one maybe unlikely thing that sticks out to us, is our growth in finding humor and laughing together. Humor and laughter aren’t ways to avoid what is hard. Rather, holding both grief and frustration in tension with joy and laughter.

Being able to laugh at ourselves and find humor, even in hard situations has been such a gift.

Recently, we have been talking about family values. There are so many things that matter and we want to be part of our family’s DNA. One unlikely thing that has risen to the top is humor. The ability to laugh at ourselves is a wonderful thing. The freedom to laugh in the face of difficulty is a gift. I want my kids to learn this at an early age.

Laughing at ourselves requires humility. But, I think, laughter also requires hope. Who can laugh in the face of dark circumstances? The one whose hope is not a certain outcome, but in the unchanging God, creator and sustainer of the universe. This same God gave us the gift of laughter. Don’t be afraid to laugh even the hardest days.

There is time for mourning and time for laughter. Don’t use laughter as a way to ignore reality. But allow laughter to breathe some relief into the hard days. It’s okay to weep and to laugh. God created and welcomes it all.

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

⁣#exhalecreativity #exhalenoticewriting #dayfifteen #somethingthatmademelaugh