The Bible has several examples of laughter. Here are three: 1. Sarah laughed in unbelief. 2. Abraham laughed in wonder. 3. Then they both laughed in joy!
I find it interesting that I find no scripture of Jesus laughing. Do you know of any?
I agree with these illustrations. Surely He laughed when He was with the children!
Besides laughing at yourself, what else makes you laugh?
A good meme?
A funny grandkid?
We can’t help laughing. It’s better than complaining or crying! Laughter is a blessing.
Honey, it’s you! And it’s OK!!
What makes YOU laugh?
See ya tomorrow (God willing) Love, JanBeek
These examples of laughter make me laugh in wonder because they sound more like my respiratory virus cough than they do real laughter! Come on, you can do better than this. Give me a laugh!!
Oh, the joy of being great-grandparents is a joy many never live long enough to experience. We do not take this for granted. An afternoon with our granddaughter, Hope, and her two children, Xander and Sienna, reinforced for us why God gives children to the young!!
In Genesis 17, when God
himself appears to Abraham and tells him that Sarah will bear a son, Abraham falls on his face laughing and exclaims, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” (Genesis 17:17).
(Genesis 18:13-14) After Sarah laughs, God turns to Abraham, asking, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? ‘ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” Sarah has been caught in the act of her private laughter and mocking commentary, a response which catches God off-guard.
We understand why when God granted Sarah the child she longed for all her life (she was in her 90s – so it was quite a miracle), she laughed (not believing God could really do that) and then she gave Isaac to the church. The priests there raised him!
Oh sure…. she gave her child to God in gratitude for God’s generosity. Suuure!!
I’ll bet she didn’t have the stamina to care for that lively little guy!
Hah! We loved visiting with our great grandkids, but we’re sure grateful it’s Hope who took them home – not us! Embrace those great-grandchildren… and then kiss ’em good-bye. You bet!!
I’m headed to bed. I’m exhausted! See ya tomorrow (God willing) Love, JanBeek
I couldn’t lift her!! Her mama had to help me get her in my lap!
Elfchen or “Elevenies” are poems with eleven words in a pattern of 1+2+3+4+1
Embrace Spontaneous Leisure as you relax and enjoy life today: Sunday
Sunday mornings always are hurried “UP ‘N AT T’EM” days. Rush!
Shower. Get up. And get dressed. Then gobble your breakfast. Church!
(Click the arrow below)
Listen “Rush Hour” for a minute … Then click it off. Frenzy!
Happy? Not likely. That “Happy Hardcore” Destroys any residual sanity. Yuck!
(Go back and click outta that sound!)
Repetitive, nerve wracking… Who needs it? Put your feet up. Relax!
Wallow in silliness for a while; Find yourself some laughter. Chuckle!
Find some friends to join you. Good for your soul. Laze!
A few friends took me up on my suggestion yesterday. My silly blog was titled, “Embrace a Camel” and I really wentoff the deep end. One little friend got into a box and joined the insanity club!
How about you? Do you take a day to just be silly and relax every now and then?
It’s called “Spontaneous Leisure” and I recommend it!
Today we slept in. We dressed in a casual, leisurely fashion. We ate brunch at 10: am (our church didn’t ZOOM the service today or we would’ve tuned in to it) and then we went up to our sanctuary and had our own worship service up there.
It was just the break from routine that we needed!
Embrace Spontaneous Leisure. Just treat yourself Take an unintentional break – Relax
Jesus Accepts worship Wherever it occurs. God condones taking breaks. Recline!
Question: “What does the Bible say about rest and relaxation?”. Answer: “Rest” is defined as “peace, ease or refreshment.” “Relax” means “to become loose or less firm, to have a milder manner, to be less stiff.” The Bible speaks quite highly of rest.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Doctor ordered relaxation: Just sit back – Put your feet up – Chill!
If you can laugh at yourself, Laughter will always be with you. We do the darndest things!!
Flight Attendant
On our trip home from Eugene, Oregon via Seattle, WA, we “lost” our carry-on suitcase. Because of a shortage of overhead bin space, we were asked to leave our carry-on at the entrance of the plane. At the end of the flight, the cart rolled out with all the luggage and ours wasn’t on it. There was a blue bag like ours, but it had a strange-looking lock on it, and it was a little bigger than ours, and the color wasn’t exactly right.
We figured somebody had accidentally picked up the wrong bag. We reported the missing bag to the flight attendant.
“You’re sure this isn’t yours?” she asked.
“We’re sure!” we both chimed in.
So, this gracious masked flight attendant escorted us to the Alaska Airlines Passenger Assistance desk. On the way we exchanged pleasantries. She discovered we’d been married 59 years. She asked about our destination. We asked about her life. We had plenty of time to share. It was a long walk to the help desk.
At the customer service desk, the attendant took our phone number and other contact information and assured us that we’d be contacted when the person who mistook our bag for theirs realized their mistake and returned it.
We thanked her again and got her contact info from her. Later she sent us a picture of herself unmasked so we’d recognize her if she came to visit us in Montana. We really hope she will!!
As we were headed for our next departure gate to continue our travel home to Bozeman, MT, we saw another flight attendant wheeling a blue carry-on toward the help desk. Something caused us to turn around, follow him, and inquire about that suitcase when he got to the Alaska Airlines customer service area.
Our sweet and helpful flight attendant still was in that area. She came over to see the blue bag that was left behind and get an update on what was happening. The two attendants looked at the bag, turned the tag on it over and examined the name/address on it.
We felt soooo stupid! We BOTH had denied that bag could be ours. We had created a hassle for the flight attendant and ourselves. NEEDLESSLY. We felt like such morons! We profusely apologized. They chuckled. We laughed out loud… a laugh filled with embarrassment.
Our sweet flight attendant patted us on the back. Gave us a comforting smile and said, “It could happen to any of us. Don’t worry!”
She said she wanted to adopt us as her “Marriage longevity role models.”
Thank you, Lisa!!
Ah, 59 years together! We often tell folks it takes the two of us to complete one another… two halves make a whole.
At that moment we thought we had both become slightly senile. Neither of us felt like half of a whole!! Maybe a quarter?
We can’t afford to have BOTH of us lose a few marbles. HELP!!
As we rolled our bag – hmmm… why hadn’t we noticed that lock on there before? Hmmm … was it really this size? Hmmm … why hadn’t we noticed the shade of blue?
We got the giggles. We laughed at our own feeble-mindedness and decided what we needed was a good glass of wine, a taco snack, and a chance to just sit and relax before we boarded the next flight.
I received a text from our dear flight attendant. She assured us that we were the highlight of her day. She sent us a picture of her beautiful family and invited us to come visit her if we are ever in the area where she lives. I can just hear her sharing the story about this “adorable old couple, married 59 years, not recognizing their own suitcase” and getting a good laugh for years to come.
We’re able to laugh about it, too. We hope she really will take us up on it and come to visit us in Montana!
The moral of the story:
The next time you do something stupid, give each other a high five. Get a good laugh at yourself, and realize:
You are not alone! Laugh together. No one can laugh AT you, if they are laughing WITH you!
And, by the way, do you have some kind of bright florescent ribbon that we can tie onto our luggage?
Something that we can’t mistake for someone else’s?
Send it along to us!! And have a great Thursday!
Love, JanBeek
Hah!!
Oh- and by the way, that girl at the top with her tongue out? That’s Bob’s niece, Tammy. She has a great sense of humor. As a nurse – especially during this COVID-19 pandemic, Laughter has been a saving grace! Gotta keep your spirits up!!
If you’ve followed my blog for a week or so, you already know that I journal most days in this little book that is dedicated to my dear and daring daughter, DeAna. I don’t write in it EVERY day, but often I do, when I am up in my sanctuary, motivated by my devotionals. Today was such a day.
Look ahead, my friend Live Life Forward Stare out the windshield Not the rear view mirror
Look toward the future Find the unexpected gifts Share the love and grace You find at every turn
Share the laughter Share uninhibited joy Share compassion Ease each others pain
Find the hidden treasures ‘Neath the tears of sorrow Let them wash you clean Ready for tomorrow
Look ahead, my friend Don’t let the past upset Live life forward And bury all regret
janbeek 