Real Laughter

WHAT'S WITH THE HUMOR?
Recognizing that this time of the year can be painfully tough
for those who have experienced abortion,
my desire is to offer a beacon of encouragement and laughter
to help uplift the spirit.
My postings for the remainder of the year will be focused on doing this.

We can all benefit, don't you agree?

Now, this one is funny! To me it is, anyway. Then again, I often find humor in the oddest and most unlikely things. It's all part of my uniqueness.........smile!

Some may think that it's a big stretch to add the element of laughter to a blog that most commonly focuses on the after math of abortion. But, why? Those who have been through abortion still deserve laughter, don't they? OF COURSE THEY DO!

When we laugh, especially those bust a gut type of laughs, it truly is like a cleansing of the soul!

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

I love to laugh, and even more, how laughter is contagious. Get in the presence of someone that can't stop laughing and you're sure to catch some! God knew this about me when He blessed me with three male comedians of my very own. I tell you, between my husband and my two sons, I've got comedy central right at home! I love the humorous characteristic in each of them.

I believe that I'm able to enjoy laughter today like I do, only because of the freeness that God has given to me through His forgiveness and redemption. When He took my sins away, threw them into the sea of forgetfulness, and became the Lord of my life, something freed up in my spirit. Oh yes, I had laughed before finding Jesus, but it was the type of laughter that is described in Proverbs 14:13

"Laughter can conceal a heavy heart,
but when the laughter ends, the grief remains."

There is nothing worse than that kind of laughter. It is a false cover to a darkness that can barely be masked. When the party is over, you're still faced with painful soberness, so it is with temporal laughter.

So, how do you experience the laughter that is like medicine for your soul, and not the laughter that just temporarily conceals a heavy heart? The key lies in your openness and willingness to
allow Jesus into your heart.

Letting Jesus in takes surrender. This is hard for many, especially those who have been violated and hurt in the past. When we've been mistreated, we put up a guard, or protective wall if you will, that may allow others in......but only so far. It can be scary to completely surrender and let down the wall that you feel has protected you. But friends, if you will just let go, and say YES to Jesus, He will overwhelm you with His goodness. A goodness you've not known before, and a goodness that will set you free.

As I slept the other night, God gave me something that I believe He wants me to share with you. I don't know if you've ever heard the story in the Bible about the Samaritan woman at the well, but I will brief it for you just in case (the story in it's entirety can be found in John, Chapter 4).

There was a woman from Samaria that had lived quite a life. She had been married five times, and was living in sin with a man who wasn't her husband. Because of her bruised reputation, she chose to carry heavy jars to the well to retrieve water from, during the hottest point in the day. Anything was better than facing the wagging tongues of her fellow townspeople. It was there and then she discovered Jesus! She discovered that this man Jesus knew everything about her..........yet, He still spoke kindly to her. This in itself was hard for her to comprehend. In her process of retreiving water, Jesus used an analogy that would forever change her life.
His words to her:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 4:13-14

She couldn't get back to town quick enough to tell everyone about this man Jesus! BUT NOTICE when she did, she left her jars of heaviness behind!

This is the freedom I've been referring to. God wants to free you the same profound way, so that you can leave your jars of heaviness behind forevermore. Let Him fill you with His living water, and you will never thirst again.

It's only in this freedom, that you will find the laughter that's not just a temporary cover.

This is my prayer for you all!