Learning to Laugh
He looked to be around four years old. Wisps of reddish blonde hair stuck out from underneath his light blue baseball cap. Busy hands shoveled sand into buckets and scooped chips out of a bag. Dark blue swim trunks extended from his waist to just past his knees – well … most of the time.
For two days in a row, my husband and I couldn’t help but laugh as we watched those trunks fall past his knees and hit the sand. Down they went whenever too much sand landed between him and comfort or when nature called much too loudly. We decided the little fella must live in the country where cows and horses aren’t so easily amused, nor parents so easily embarrassed by such sights.
We remembered our own son having to learn the hard way that there are more discreet and honorable ways to take care of such things. Consequences at home and in the pasture are much less severe than those on the playground at school. If you have boys, I’m sure you’ve also handled similar teachable moments.
Like the little blue-capped boy, we all want to ease our discomfort quickly. We just want all the hatred to stop, the sickness to end, and for all to be right with the world. We know what Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” We know there is a better day coming; we just want it now!
Is that even possible? Can we find some joy in the midst of such turmoil? I know we can! Just recently, I rediscovered something I thought I’d lost. I found my laugh again.
When I taught school years ago, I’d end the year by having my students grade me for a change. I handed them the opportunity to tell me what needed improvement and what they liked most about my class. I learned so much about my teaching from the honest evaluations of anonymous ten-year-old children. For instance, I learned that I absentmindedly clicked the tops of dry erase markers on and off when I talked, and that sound drove some of them crazy. Once I became aware of it, it drove me crazy too!
They listed several things they didn’t particularly like – some I changed, some were necessary. But the thing that always won out as their most favorite part of my class was that it was fun. Fun kept them engaged, helped them remember, and lessened discipline problems. So, I worked hard to make learning as fun as possible.
However, somewhere along the way, that focus dimmed, and I lost my laugh. Life got more grown-up and serious. I wonder why some think those two things have to go together. Didn’t Jesus say we had to become like little children if we want to enter the kingdom? I decided that the process involved in changing overly-serious adults back into carefree children hangs on how we feel about Jesus.
As I worked through my process, I began to finally fix my eyes on the gift of joy Jesus had waiting on me. Piece by piece, small bits of joy began replacing negative emotions I methodically threw out until joy completely filled my heart.
When we place all of our expectations on Jesus rather than people, we realize He is the only One who has enough power and love to meet them all. In fact, He not only meets every need, He also blesses us with more joy than we could ever imagine.
If you’ve lost your laugh over the past few months, work through the process of throwing out all the negative and train your eyes to focus on the funny things in life. Believe me, they’re still out there even in serious situations.
We were not made to emote pessimism and despair. Even in the most trying times, the apostle Paul was able to pen a joyful letter to the Philippians. Chuck Swindoll in his book Laugh Again said this about Paul’s letter:
“It is an amazing letter, made even more remarkable by its recurring theme – joy. Think of it. Written by a man who had known excruciating hardship and pain, living in a restricted setting chained to a Roman soldier, the letter to Philippians resounds with joy! Attitudes of joy and contentment are woven through the tapestry of these 104 verses like threads of silver. Rather than wallowing in self-pity or calling on his friends to help him escape or at least find relief from those restrictions, Paul sent a surprisingly lighthearted message.”
I’m sure you feel perplexed by the events that surround us. So do I. Your contentment lies hard-pressed on every stinkin’ side. But! We are not in despair, and we are not crushed. Why? Because WE WIN!
So, do the hard work of working through a few things if you need to. Make some drastic changes if they’re called for. Then, let’s all just take a breath and breathe deeply. Turn off the bad, and intentionally look for the good. Sharpening our focus on fun doesn’t mean we will be neglecting our responsibilities. We’ll fulfill them with a better attitude. We won’t become childish. We’ll be engaged and better able to learn. We’ll lessen our own discipline problems, and we’ll find our laugh again.
Who knows, you might even notice a little blue-capped boy who knows how to solve problems quickly and make others laugh in the process.
“What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Galatians 5:22-23, The Message
Donna Jackson
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#donnajacksonblogs