Laughter Within the Walls

Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is "a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."  The amazing thing in my family is that the weeping, laughing, mourning, and dancing sometime occur all at the same time!

There is a joke in our family, whenever we are having a good time, that causes us to say, "We haven't had this much fun since Grandpa's wake!"  Now I know some of you are gasping in shock, and that's just because you probably are not familiar with the Louisiana Larpenters who use any and every opportunity to have a good time of fellowship, even Grandpa's wake.  Our fellowships do not include alcohol or drugs, but an over abundance of food and laughter. The food is good, but the laughter is so much better.

Recently, Eddie, Rachel, and I took a much needed "vacation" to visit Mom and Dad in Louisiana.  It never fails when we get together, that we get to laughing.  When my mom and I start laughing, we always end up in tears.  My mother often says that "laughter is aerobics for the spirit", and I totally agree with her.  The Bible even says as much in Proverbs 17:22 - "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

I've learned to look for the humorous things in any situation.  They are there and can be found if one takes the time to look.  Sometimes laughing aloud is okay, but there are other times when you need to keep your laughter within the walls of your mouth!  (grin)  You need to make sure you don't offend anyone with your laughter.  Laughter is many times the thing that will lighten the mood in an otherwise tense situation.

Most of all, learn to laugh at yourself!  I make myself laugh probably more than anyone else.  The crazy things I do keep me chuckling throughout the day.  For example, the other day I was driving the church van and had just dropped off my last rider.  I proceeded to talk to myself out loud (which I often do when alone) when I realized I'd called myself by the wrong name!  I had to quickly look around to see that no one had mistakenly been left on the van and had heard me!  That was so funny. I could write a book about the times in my life that would have royally embarrassed most people, including falling off a piano stool in a church in Germany filled with over 200 laughing Germans or knocking in all the stops of the pipe organ while I attempted to turn the page for a visiting organist, or the time I was walking down the aisle at church when an elderly Sunday School member came up to me and said, "Bessie, are you missing something?"  I followed his eyes to my shoes only to discover that the elastic in my slip had "let go" and my slip was completely resting on the top of my shoes!  I will be honest in saying that I did not laugh about the organ incident at the time it happened, but later did.  The other cases caused immediate joy and laughter to escape from my lips.

Life, lately has been filled with many serious situations, decisions, and changes.  The joy and peace from the Lord have sustained me, and a good laugh from time to time keeps me looking upward.  If you don't have anything to laugh about, laugh about me!  I just have a feeling that there is going to be a lot of laughter in heaven because the Larpenters will be there!  (grin)