Behind The Laughter

Proverbs 14:13 "Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains."

Tonight was trivia night at our church.  It's a time of good food, great questions, and lots of laughter.  I love to be a part of it.  Being there takes my mind off of the things that are on my mind.  You know how it goes.  If you are busy,  you can't think about the problems you think you have.  I took my mind off my own life and listened tonight.  Between the questions about what were in the grinches teeth, what was the name of the rabbit in Frosty the Snowman, and who sang a song about "last Christmas, I gave  you my heart?", I shared life stories with new friends and old ones.  I shared laughter which made my heart lighter.

There are so many times in my day when I hear with half an ear.  You know how easy that is.  Uh huh and yes dear become common words in your vocabulary.  You smile and nod and wonder what you took out for dinner.  Even my prayers are riddled with "look....a bunny" moments.   Those are the moments when you are down on your knees and earnestly praying to the Lord and the next thing you know you are going over your budget in your mind.  How did you get sidetracked?  Don't think you are alone!!!  It happens quite frequently in my mind.  I think the Lord makes allowances for senior moments.  I'm just not sure how to justify the fact that it's been happening since high school!!  Even when I write, I find myself having to edit huge paragraphs out of my writing because I start out talking about the beauty of my surroundings and end up talking about what I had for breakfast!!

I made an effort tonight to hear what was really going on in the lives of those around me.  I whined to myself because I really needed to get home and go to bed until I heard someone say they had no place to live because of divorce and they were glad of a friends couch to sleep on.  I thought about the fact that my dinner was a little slow in coming until I heard someone say that they hadn't worked in over a year and they were glad there were free refills on the drinks.  I wanted to talk about how hard it was to buy gifts for our children but instead I listened while someone told me they were grateful for the angel tree at our church....otherwise her children would have no gifts. Yet these weren't things that were told to me so that I would feel bad for them.  There was gratitude in their hearts for these small moments of joy in their lives.  They were grieving but they were grateful for for the laughter to help ease the pain.

Who would have thought that 2 hours of laughter and fun would help ease the heartaches, even if just for a little while.  Lord, let me hear behind the words and see behind the smiles.  In Luke 6:21 the Lord says "... Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."  It is a promise our Abba has given us.   This holiday season is a hard one for many people.   Let us help others to laugh. Let us find moments of laughter in our own lives.  We are the most blessed people on the planet.  If you have nothing else to share, share laughter.     Oh and  what was  the horses name was in Jingle Bells or in what country does Santa arrive on a surfboard?  (Hint....Hawaii is not a country!!!)