Have a Good Laugh

Last year I came across an article on the health benefits of laughter. Advantages cited included lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormone levels, improves cardiac health, and my personal favorite—works your abs. Yes! Let’s get laughing!

I worked with civil engineers. Not that engineers aren’t fun or funny, but they are a serious bunch for the most part. There were times this introverted gal felt stretched to the max trying to be the outgoing one in the group.

One Monday morning, at a departmental staff meeting, the question was asked, “How was your weekend?” Everyone around the table gave a response. “Okay.” “Didn’t do much.” “Fine.” All very monotone and boring. I spoke last. I nearly jumped out of my chair, raised my arms into the air, and said, “Fantastic! I had a great weekend.” A couple of the engineers at the table nearly fell out of their chairs because of my exuberance. Rare for me to get that excited, but their dullness made me want to go back home and sleep. We needed a spark.

There’s one gentleman I worked with who was not an engineer. He was an extrovert. He kept us on our toes and worked our abs. A year ago, Stan (not his real name) posted on the company’s Intranet Out of Office board that he and his supervisor were traveling on a karaoke tour. This board is available to the entire company—almost 200 employees. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without finding out more. I sent Stan an email and asked if the two men were slacking off on company time. He soon responded with, “Hold on. The boss is on stage singing now. I’ll get back to you later.” Instead of doing my work, I was laughing. My response, “Take a video. I want to see this.”

He didn’t send me a video on that day, but a few days later, his boss forwarded a video to me that Stan sent him. Stan wearing a fish head costume talking about feeling a little fishy. The boss’s response to Stan’s humor, “He’s goofier than my teenaged son.” He may have been goofy, but his humor was beneficial to my health.

The benefits of laughter are nothing new. Proverbs 17:22 states, “A joyful heart is good medicine…” (ESV) and “Being cheerful keeps you healthy…” (GNB).

Sounds like a great New Year’s resolution. Take time to laugh every day!

If you have a funny story you’d like to share, please do so in the comments below.

Christmas Traditions and Memories

My youngest grandson’s teacher asked grandparents to write a letter to her class and describe our family’s Christmas traditions when we were young. I shared much of this post in my letter. If I could relive one day from childhood, I’d choose this memory of our family together on Christmas Day.

Mom and Dad loaded my two older brothers, younger sister, and me into their Ford station wagon after we opened our gifts at home. We traveled across town to my grandparents’ house. There were eight adults and nine children together in a crowded living room. We ate a big dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, fruit salad, and my grandmother’s pumpkin pie and crumb cake. My grandmother was a good cook. She made mincemeat pies with apples, meat, and raisins, but I stuck up my nose at those.

When I was five, I wanted to be near my great-grandmother and hold her hand. She always sat in her favorite chair in the kitchen where she could watch everyone there and everyone in the living room too. In her hand she always held an embroidered hankie edged with lace. When she died, my grandmother gave me one of great-grandma’s hankies to remember her.

My cousin and I sat together in this big old chair every year. I don’t remember who got the honor of sitting in that chair once we grew too big and no longer fit in it together.

I looked forward to something my grandfather did for us. He emptied walnut shells, put coins inside, and glued the shells back together. He then hung them on a small tree. They looked like little ornaments. How he cracked them open without destroying them I’ll never know. After we ate our dinner on Christmas Day, he gave us permission to pick a walnut from the tree to find out what it held. We received pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Thought we were rich!

Grandpa then handed out each gift, one at a time, and we opened it before he handed out the next gift. He wanted to make sure everyone saw what we received and heard us tell the gift-giver, “Thank you.”

So much fun! I enjoyed being together with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate Christmas as a family. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you and your families share special memories for years to come.

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2: 10-11, NKJV

What are your favorite childhood memories of Christmas?

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Photo by Ben White - Unsplash

Special Gifts

Two years ago, I joined a ladies Bible study group at my church. We read the book, Lead Me, Holy Spirit, by Stormie Omartian.

She shared a story in her book that I’ve been reminded of often. On a snowy morning outside her window, there were thirty to forty redbirds perched in a tree. She compared the scene to a Christmas tree decorated with red ornaments. She tried to discover what God was revealing to her through the beauty of the moment but couldn’t quite grasp the meaning. When a pastor friend stopped by, she asked him what he thought God was showing her. The pastor said, “It was a gift to show His love for you.”

How often does the Lord give us gifts to show His love for us? Happens more than we realize. I’d like to share one He gave me.

A lover of worship music, I was looking for songs to download and came across a worship CD from my alma mater, Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. I purchased the entire album and listened often. There was one song that became my favorite—“Hope Is Rising.” For some reason, I wanted to know who sang this song. I checked the website for LeeU Worship but couldn’t find anything about the featured singers.

Eight months later my husband and I took a trip to Ohio where I grew up. We visited our home church while there and met the worship pastor. I learned he was the singer of “Hope Is Rising.”

There was no reason for me to know who sang this song, but God knew it was important to me. God gave me a name and allowed me to meet the singer.

God’s gifts are everywhere. How has He recently shown His love for you?

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Blog first posted in November 2018.

Omartian, Stormie. 2012. Lead Me, Holy Spirit. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers.

https://www.leeuworship.com/

Photo by Robert Thiemann - Unsplash

I Enjoy Both!

This week I celebrated the one-year anniversary of my website. I wrote this post last November before my site went live.

In the past couple of months, a question I’ve heard often is, “How does a mathematics major become a fiction writer?” Possibly a better question is, “How does a fiction writer become a mathematics major?”

Growing up, I took an interest in stories long before I found my niche in math. My sister and I would lie awake at night collaborating on adventures in large houses with secret passageways. We often ended up in an ice cream parlor and would stuff ourselves until we fell off to sleep.

In elementary school I wrote my first fictional book. “The Dog That Had Kittens.” At the time, I didn’t understand anything about genetics or the impossibility of my topic.

My interest in math didn’t emerge until my freshman year of high school. I loved Algebra and enjoyed the challenge. The teacher made the class fun and encouraged me to do my best. Then in college, I turned my love for math into a teaching degree and taught middle school and high school for ten years.

Also while in college, my love for writing progressed. I looked forward to my creative writing class and penned a few fun stories. I experienced a heightened awareness of literature and poetry. Being an odd sort of person anyway, I loved to answer essay questions. One of my English professors made a comment one day about me being an English major. I corrected her assumption and surprised her at the same time.

What can I say? I enjoy both!

The Lord gives us many talents to use for His glory and to serve one another. Is there something you enjoy that perhaps God wants you to use to honor Him?

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Photo by Angelina Litvin - Unsplash