By: Jackie Brindle
Picture this.
I have a golden retriever dog, named Kona. One morning I went outside on the back porch to drink my coffee. I closed the screen door behind me and sat down on our patio furniture. I see him staring down a bird in the yard from the kitchen, looking inside. Thought nothing of it until I heard….. CRASH!
He shot right through the back door, tumbled down a step, and looked up at me like --- “where did that come from!?”. My husband, Grant, came home and wanted to know what went on but I couldn’t get the story out without thinking of Kona’s face and what he did, without laughing. It was ridiculous and I still can’t believe he didn’t see it there.
Slapstick humor. Gets me every time because I’m not the one getting “slapped with the stick.” This all reminds me of a phrase that says, “Live, Laugh, Love.”
I really think the key to that saying is laugh because in order to live life and love, you’ve got to have a good sense of humor. Anyone here reading this, married? have kids? have a pet/s? or even work with kids? Then you definitely need to have a sense of humor, for any of those situations!! There are some days I can’t make the crazy stuff up... it feels like I am living a life straight out of a comedy, staring Adam Sandler!
Although, there are times in life, it’s hard to lighten up. Especially as a mom, when I have all these plans for my kids and then they go ahead and do things their own way! Another example is when my four year old son, Luke, was licking the windows the other day. Who does that!? I put him in a time out and then had him clean the windows he licked. The other day he hid my keys in his bathroom shower because he was pretending to be the “bad guy.” I only found out because I finally asked him and that’s what he told me. Had I never thought to ask him, they’d probably still be in his bathroom and I’d never know where my keys went.
My children remind me that life is not meant to always be so serious, and to lighten up even through the unplanned moments. Yes, there are times it’s difficult to be in a good mood but it’s ironic, how life can contradict our emotions. I mean I really wanted to be mad at my son, but all I could do was laugh. I was annoyed that the screen door was broken but couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation, with Kona. Perhaps you are walking through a season where your “plans” have quickly changed, and you didn’t see the screen door coming, too! Maybe you feel like you are walking aimlessly filling up your days and exhausted because you are doing it all by yourself. Perhaps the “key”…. is asking for help or talking it out with someone who can help you change your perspective.
I often feel guilty that when I am on edge, so wrapped up and involved with my stressful life situations, that my family gets the brunt of it too. I don’t have all the answers but one thing that can snap me out of this “serious”or “it’s the end of the world” mindset—- and finally get out of my own head, is to see the good. To smile. To laugh! I have to be more intentional and aware that striking that funny bone can be exactly what the doctor ordered!
It’s true what people say, laughter works a lot like medicine. It's good for the soul!
Here are some solid takeaways if you are feeling the heaviness of stress and life feels like when it rains it pours ---- I encourage you to take a breath and find ways to laugh. Call on your best friend who can laugh about the crazy parts of life with you! Or laugh at the “can’t make this stuff up” moments your kids do, instead of letting it infuriate you. Put on that comedy that has a ton of slap stick humor or an old home-video that cracks you up at your family's expense!
I also did a little research as to why laughing is so good for our health. The health benefits include: a release of more oxygen, release of tension or stress, it can also change our attitude, it can change our perspective, and it can help us burn extra calories!! Hmm...so why not laugh, right?! I also thought, “Why is slapstick humor so hilarious? Why is it something that can spark a laugh in any age or in any moment?”
As I was reading an article by Judy Skattsoon, in her research of slapstick humor, she describes that it can make us laugh because, “When we laugh at someone falling over, it’s not the process of falling that tickles the funny bone but the attempt to stay upright.” I like that Skattasoon also mentioned that what makes it funny “isn’t the action or the fall but the attempt of that person is trying to do, to make it the way we want it to go but is struggling.”
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You make plans, and God laughs.”? My Aunt Steph told me these exact words at a family reunion when I was pregnant with my first child, Ava. It was unplanned and it was a time in my life where I was young and didn’t know how these plans were for my good, yet. When my aunt said this with a chuckle, I realized she was right. God wasn’t against me! He was laughing because I doubted that He STILL had GOOD plans for my life! His plans were better than what I could fathom!
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
I feel like that phrase has a whole new meaning after reading what Skattsoon wrote. I don’t think God laughs at our shortcomings or when plans change but he laughs at how we try to stay upright. I know for me, sometimes, when I am not paying attention or when I am paying way too much attention to the details, plans can change in front of me. I can choose to be mad at it, stay in shock, let it throw me off course, or let out a laugh and know that God is watching over me.
Let out a laugh -- let it ease all your doubt!
Even though I can’t see the outcome, where my keys are or how the screen door is going to get put back on… only God does. God knows where every twist, turn, fall, failure, success, and move will happen, but I have to ask myself, am I willing to look up?! Am I willing to let out a smile knowing that His purpose will prevail? Are you willing?
I imagine life is like walking on a tightrope and God’s watching how I will walk across it from one end to the other. He knows I’ll get across it, but I am looking in the natural and trying to figure out how to stay upright and balanced, as things are thrown at me. I might look ridiculous trying to get to the other side with sudden moves to keep it all together. But if I choose to stay focused on God, smile, relax every now and then, I can get there a whole lot quicker…. and maybe more graceful! Maybe I’ll get there with a little less tension, less screaming at my kids when things aren’t staying upright, less of me nagging my husband when I’m stressed, and less of me when I let God lead!
If God is watching me run through a screen door, misplacing my keys, or lick a window, I sure hope He’s laughing with me!
Then when I look up to him and ask, did you see that? I imagine He’ll answer with a fatherly chuckle looking at his daughter, shaking his head, saying “____(your name)___, hold onto your faith and I will help you walk across the waters, too.” It reminds me how Jesus told Peter, “Come”... to walk across the waters. When Peter stopped looking up, he fell into the waters. (Read 14:25-31) God doesn’t want our doubt… but smiles because I think He pursues our hearts.
God knows if we turn to Him, He will make a way!
All we need to do is have faith and …..a good sense of humor!
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that you will help me to seek your presence when things don’t go as planned. Thank you for easing my doubt and taking away the worries I have held onto for too long. Help me to open up my eyes so I can find the joy and laughter, when I need it most. Thank you for my family and friends and ask that you continue to protect us and guide us, in each day! (Even if we don’t know where it will lead.) I thank you, that you have GREAT plans for my life and will always be willing to push me onward so I can complete your purpose.
In Jesus name,
Amen
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