As I was browsing emails and face book the new word challenge appeared.
I looked at it and said, “yes I can write about that one.”
The word chosen is: laugh
The bible shows this word is used in 38 different ways, that seems pretty significant to me.
After this last month with losing our dear friends unexpectedly the word laugh or laughter seems not so fitting.
But it actually is, because when a sadness happens one can only begin to go up, as the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes says;
“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
It Is so important to know that our deep joy is constant and our ability to laugh is a sign of trust.
One cannot laugh and be fearful at the same time.
In Proverbs 31:25 The verse says;
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can only laugh at the days to come.”
Faith is not fearful, it is trusting and walking and believing that all will be fine.
Even in the midst of uncertain days ahead, or I would even add through the days of questions of asking why and not understanding when there is no answer to those questions.
We will not ever know the reason why, they had to leave us so soon and so unexpected.
But we have to trust in a God who knows and has the plan for a bigger picture.
At the service for David and Tara they were sharing some of the Dave-ism’s he used to say.
Those who knew him and loved him, laughed because they could remember him saying those funny words.
To laugh is to be healthy. It is not denial of hurt or pain or sorrow or sadness.
I believe even Jesus laughed as he placed a young child on his lap and listened to the heart of a child.
To laugh is to free our souls for just a moment or two… like a bird fluttering in the sky.
Why do you think we all love a good comedian? because laughter makes us feel good. The Most wasted of all days is one without laughter. E.E. Cummings
In the New Testament book of 1 Peter the living translation says this:
“You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him, with laughter and with singing.
Because you kept believing, you get what you’re looking forward to – total salvation.”
I think this is something to think about.
There is a challenge out in the blog world to write for 31 days on certain word topics.
I am not choosing to write that often but I will pick and choose which words fit for the season we are in.
Todays’ challenge was the word Patience.
Yeah not so easy of a concept especially when one is in the middle of major decisions.
We are planning my husbands retirement in the next six months.
We are planning on selling the current house and finding a new one that we both will enjoy.
We are planning on purchasing a motor home for traveling in and even perhaps a few other new purchases.
In the meantime we must be patient. Patience: dictionary.com says: patience – ability to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. Quiet, steady perseverance; even – tempered care; diligence.
It’s really hard sometimes to be patient and wait for something to take place.
We can make lot’s of plans but without all the details filled in and all the ‘funds’ distributed.
We cannot do anything.
We must remain patient and be willing to wait for the right time for all things to fall into place.
In the new testament book of Colossians 1:11 it says: being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.
Then it says in the same book of Colossians 3:12: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
It seems the theme for us right now is to wait with patience and see what wonderful things take place.
In the book of Jeremiah this verse has always been a favorite of mine and right now, I hold it close. “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
This is the beginning of a new week and it is also the beginning of the changing of seasons.
Fall looks so fresh and colorful.
Leaves dropping one by one landing to the ground in a pile of color.
Trees standing with yellows and oranges and reds and browns, letting go of the old and entering in to a space of empty.
I love this time of year.
Perhaps that is why we got married in this ‘season’ of cool and color and rain and wind.
It is refreshing.
It is the ending of hot summer and the beginning of cool brisk fall day sand of planning for the holidays. It is walking in the cool, listening to the Canadian geese in the sky heading on their yearly path for the winter.
It is finding your old coats or sweaters and dragging out your boots and umbrellas.
It is hot tea and a book and a comfy blanket or two.
It is the change of everyday that makes this season so wonderful.
One doesn’t know if rain is staying or sun is coming.
Storms are good too if you are not out in the middle of them.
I love this season of fall.
The changing of seasons are meant for us to enjoy.
Let us put on our excitement as we prepare for the coming months.
Oh the joy of fall fires in the fireplace and warm conversations with those we love.
This is the beginning, let us make it a good one.
Today’s word prompt is something I struggle with in a lot of areas of my life. TRUST
When you come from a home that often was broken you learn that trust is not high on your list.
It reflects a lot of areas in your life as young person and then later as a older mature person.
Trust does not come easy for me.
In marriage one has to learn to trust each other and to allow each other to grow and stretch and make decisions for the goal of your dreams together.
That is not an easy process for we were married young and I entered into the context of marriage with many years of broken words.
Learning to trust was a process only God could do deep into my heart.
Yes we had times when trust was broken and I learned ‘the message’ in my head was counterproductive to the ‘healing’ God wanted me to have in this new relationship.
We are heading into our 42nd year of marriage and trust has to be part of that process.
Many times those who were supposed to stand up for me and be my advocate failed to do that.
In marriage, we stand up for each other and we are the voice of encouragement, faith and hope when the world around us often does not share that thought.
Dictionary.com says trust is: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person. Confidence – confident expectation of something, hope. A person of whom one relies on – God is my trust. Obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence is placed.
Trust… such a serious, relational word.
I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this ‘very challenging’ topic.
Embrace:
When I think of this word I think of my own interpretation which is very simply called ‘hug’.
Embracing another with a warm receptive hug either when saying hello or saying goodbye.
Dictionary.com says: to clasp or take in the arms ((hug))
to take or receive gladly or accept willingly
to allow oneself of an opportunity; to adopt a religion or belief
to take into the mind or eye; to encircle, surround or enclose
to include or to join.
This weekend I went to see my best friend and when we arrived we were met with hugs and welcome and ‘oh it’s so nice to see you.’
Embracing our friendship and our relationship as it has grown for many long years.
When we see a new baby we ‘hold our arms out’ to embrace the precious bundle.
When we leave a loved one we often ’embrace them’ as we say good bye and tell them it was so good to visit and see them.
It is a holding close to what is precious and valuable to us.
Family, friends, those who have meaning in our lives and in our hearts.
When I think of embrace I see a ‘oneness’ and a message that says:
We value each other.
One week ago we were sitting in a church filled with many people, remembering those we have grown to love and call our friends.
It’s hard to understand even after just a few weeks have passed.
Tara’s brother and sister talked about their sister.
It was good for them to share from their hearts and it was good for us as people listening, to hear ‘who she was as a sister’ not just the wife of David.
Her brother said ‘for her to come to a small town, and then to meet a wonderful family’ was God’s greater purpose.
He said ‘perhaps, in God’s bigger picture’, it was not an accident.
Because she had lost her own mother she would understand the pain of that kind of loss.
When she moved into a small county town to go to a ‘Christian college’ and do her psychology work with a family with young people who ‘lost their mother.’
Perhaps God was orchestrating another ‘purpose’ behind the scenes.
What a perfect place for her to settle in and learn to care for and eventually love this ‘special family.’
She would be someone who could truly say, “I understand.”
Because she did.
The love grew between herself and the family and mostly between herself and David.
It was a healthy kind of love that took it’s time.
In the service the time came for the four grown children to share about David and Tara.
Each one playing a part and a role in saying good bye to a wonderful dad and mom.
I am sure they are still filled with questions as to why it had to happen.
Why and how and what took place that evening on a country road.
The investigation still continues.
It seems to be just a tragic circumstance and I am hoping it won’t go any further.
Then yesterday in our State another ‘hard to believe’ series of shootings took place.
Ten people passed away and many were wounded by a senseless act of evil.
Those people didn’t get up and go to work and go to school thinking that ‘today is my last day to live’.
Just like Dave and Tara who were riding down a country road for a casual time outside.
They didn’t know or have any idea it would be the last ride, they would ever take together.
It is proving to me more and more as I get older, that we cannot let a day go by without telling our loved ones how we care for them, how important they are and what purpose they have in our lives.
We must not waste a moment.
Many people will begin this fall season with loss.
They will have the holidays to look towards, with memories of loved ones in their heart and mind.
Tears will come and so will anger, sadness with sit with them as they struggle to remember.
Sorrow is for a lifetime. Yes it softens. The intensity shifts to memories instead of intense tears.
There are many things in this life we will never understand, but if we believe in a God who has a higher purpose, then we can hold onto and cling to the hope that only He gives us.
That should we die early and should we leave way before we wish to, there is a place of comfort and a place of peace for us to reside in forever in a new heavenly home.
Loss is hard. No matter if it is a car wreck, shooting or physical ailment.
I think the lesson for all of us, is to choose, how we will live and how we will love.
And I will even add, how we will learn to say good bye.
Because someday we will have to even when we have no answers.
The Service was very moving.
Incredibly sad, I have never been to a service for two people at the same time.
Lot’s of beautiful flower bouquets. Lots of pictures.
The children who are now grown did the service. Each of them taking turns sharing something special about their parents.
The slide show was a wonderful example of ‘who’ they were as a couple and as individual professional counselors.
They loved each other. They loved their family.
They were full of energy and life until it was cut short one evening.
The service showed how they were as grand parents and as parents.
It showed how they loved.
I still cannot believe they are gone.
Our good friend passed away yesterday morning.
It is a bittersweet ending to the tragic life ending story that unfolded a week ago.
A normal day, riding your bike out on a country road ends in tragedy and sorrow.
We grieve. We ask why and have no answers.
We trust when we don’t know how.
God knows the day we are born and the day we die.
It is not for us to know, only for us to live our lives right and good and in peace so that when tragedy happens, there are no words left unsaid or regrets never solved or healed.
We will miss them and I ask for prayers for their immediate families.
For the upcoming holidays without parents.
For the ‘first’s that are so hard to manage at any age.
What a reunion they must have had when he arrived after her, in heaven.
They were believers so we know that is their final place now.
Our sorrow is for a season and our memories are for a lifetime.
It is a hard feeling to lose a loved one and if that loved one is a parent it leaves one feeling alone, in a very different way.
I know because my parents have passed in the last two years.
Please pray for their four children as they move through this very difficult time.
Our family friend is still in critical care ICU.
We pray for the family who is left, his four grown children and grandchildren.
We pray for doctors to have wisdom, strength, knowledge, and of course compassion.
This has been an incredibly hard and difficult time as the waiting room becomes a place of residence for them, until they know his stability, his recovery process, or even how to make critical decisions for him and his care.
I personally do not know how to pray.
He is so broken, so injured. It will be a miracle of God if we see him wake and even move.
We believe in a God of miracles.
We also know He works within his own time frame.
Our time is not God’s time, nor is our wish His will.
We all wait and pray and ask God for hope.
It’s all we can rest in now.
One Word 2018 Simplify/2019 Simplify/2020 Rest, 2021/Comfort
Simplicity
Subscribe
Subscribe Here!
Get encouragement and thought delivered directly to your inbox!
You have Successfully Subscribed!
my 2017 picture
Philipians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. ==================== Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." Courage is not the absence of fear but it's taking action in the midst of it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.
It's your heart, not the dictionary that gives meaning to your words. Matthew 12:34 (msg) version.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below you will find a few of my favorite websites or blogs. They have given me encouragement and challenged me on this journey.
Ann Voskamp's blog A holy Experience This image of a bleeding heart represents a journey of healing from brokenness to wholeness. Some of my favorite books: One thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
Married over 46 years and entered into my 65th year of life.
I am a mother of two and grandmother of six and mom to two very spoiled kitties. I love to worship and encourage and of course write whenever I can find a topic or subject to share about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for visiting my blog.
I hope you find it encouraging and that it gives you
'Something to think about'. The vision for this is to challenge the reader into a new and different way of thinking. I appreciate and always value your comments. Having others walk alongside and join in the sharing is part of the process.
Thank you for joining me... on this journey. As we get encouraged ~ Lord help us to encourage others. "And the day came when the risk to remain a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin my blog button The crosses are found on a beach at Winema Christian Camp on the Oregon coast.. a place to relax and find God in the process. My favorite place ....to rest and restore my spirit.
/>PLEASE DO NOT COPY ANY PART OF THIS BLOG WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR FIRST. Thank you click onto picture for My etsy store:
