Reason #147
God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh. - Luke 6:21
I'm a night owl. I always go to bed late and it takes me about .5 seconds to fall asleep. I finally got into bed late last night and got about 15 minutes into sleeping when I was jolted awake by a piercing siren. The smoke detectors in my house has been set off along with the alarm system. All of the smoke detectors are wired, and I have about half a dozen throughout my house, so when one goes off they all go off. So for a good 5 minutes, the alarms sounded and then they silenced. I laid back in bed, quite annoyed by this situation, but quickly fell back to sleep. About an hour later, the alarms went off again. This time, 2:00AM mind you, they continued to sound for a good ten minutes. All six alarms loudly shreiking at the same time. I was close to losing my sanity. Now, I am a girl who sure enjoys sound sleeping, so inconveniently waking up is not my preference. My house was not on fire, absolutely nothing was smoking, and I was not the least bit happy that my sleep had been interrupted...twice.
My alarm clock sounded at 6:30 this morning and I drug myself out of bed feeling like I had hit a brick wall. I did not want to go get ready for work, I didn't want to go to work, I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. My eyeballs felt like they were on fire. I stood in front of the mirror and tried not to fall asleep as I put mascara on my lashes. I felt like my eyelids weighed a ton and the cloudy drive to work didn't help my sleepy disposition.
A long day. A sleepy day. A foggy day, to be truthful. And I came home, put on sweatpants, and turned into a couch potato.
Towards the end of my evening, I received a phone call. And for the next hour and half, I laughed until my sides ached. As the conversation continued, tears rolled down my face. Tears produced from deep laughs. Happy tears, I suppose you could say. And I haven't done this in a long time. I haven't sat and laughed for well over an hour.
And I thought about the many Friday nights I sat at home and cried. I thought about the many Friday nights I felt lonely, wondering if I would ever enjoy another Friday evening again. I wondered if that would even be a possibility anytime soon.
And I thought about how much my laughter has changed. "Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains." (Proverbs 14:13) For months I didn't laugh, and if I laughed it was a shallow, fake, courtesy laugh. A laugh to conceal the pain. To pretend. But I don't think many people were fooled. And I remember thinking how much I missed being happy. I missed laughing.
“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” - Audrey Hepburn
I think Audrey Hepburn was on to something here. I think laughter can do a lot for a person. There's nothing that can better lift your spirits than a good laughing session. And I've noticed as the months have passed, laughter has started to return more and more. I apprecaite these moments more than ever, and I can now see that laughter did come in due time. Because laughter truly is a blessing, and it's an even greater blessing to be surrounded by people who have the ability to help "cure."
#147 - Because He has returned my laughter and given me people to laugh with.
"He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." - Job 8:21
I'm a night owl. I always go to bed late and it takes me about .5 seconds to fall asleep. I finally got into bed late last night and got about 15 minutes into sleeping when I was jolted awake by a piercing siren. The smoke detectors in my house has been set off along with the alarm system. All of the smoke detectors are wired, and I have about half a dozen throughout my house, so when one goes off they all go off. So for a good 5 minutes, the alarms sounded and then they silenced. I laid back in bed, quite annoyed by this situation, but quickly fell back to sleep. About an hour later, the alarms went off again. This time, 2:00AM mind you, they continued to sound for a good ten minutes. All six alarms loudly shreiking at the same time. I was close to losing my sanity. Now, I am a girl who sure enjoys sound sleeping, so inconveniently waking up is not my preference. My house was not on fire, absolutely nothing was smoking, and I was not the least bit happy that my sleep had been interrupted...twice.
My alarm clock sounded at 6:30 this morning and I drug myself out of bed feeling like I had hit a brick wall. I did not want to go get ready for work, I didn't want to go to work, I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep. My eyeballs felt like they were on fire. I stood in front of the mirror and tried not to fall asleep as I put mascara on my lashes. I felt like my eyelids weighed a ton and the cloudy drive to work didn't help my sleepy disposition.
A long day. A sleepy day. A foggy day, to be truthful. And I came home, put on sweatpants, and turned into a couch potato.
Towards the end of my evening, I received a phone call. And for the next hour and half, I laughed until my sides ached. As the conversation continued, tears rolled down my face. Tears produced from deep laughs. Happy tears, I suppose you could say. And I haven't done this in a long time. I haven't sat and laughed for well over an hour.
And I thought about the many Friday nights I sat at home and cried. I thought about the many Friday nights I felt lonely, wondering if I would ever enjoy another Friday evening again. I wondered if that would even be a possibility anytime soon.
And I thought about how much my laughter has changed. "Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains." (Proverbs 14:13) For months I didn't laugh, and if I laughed it was a shallow, fake, courtesy laugh. A laugh to conceal the pain. To pretend. But I don't think many people were fooled. And I remember thinking how much I missed being happy. I missed laughing.
“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.” - Audrey Hepburn
I think Audrey Hepburn was on to something here. I think laughter can do a lot for a person. There's nothing that can better lift your spirits than a good laughing session. And I've noticed as the months have passed, laughter has started to return more and more. I apprecaite these moments more than ever, and I can now see that laughter did come in due time. Because laughter truly is a blessing, and it's an even greater blessing to be surrounded by people who have the ability to help "cure."
#147 - Because He has returned my laughter and given me people to laugh with.
"He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." - Job 8:21