Thursday, December 21, 2017

Dry bones? No thank you!

When you have cancer, any time you get a chance to laugh at something, DO IT!

Proverbs 17:22 says "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." Well, I don't want no dry bones, do you?

It's true! Laughing is like the best dose of medicine a person could be prescribed.

Proverbs 17:22One of the best gifts I have ever been given is a family that loves to laugh. My husband and I have more fun laughing together than we could have by spending money on exotic cruises, romantic getaways or anything else that couples to do charge up their relationships. Don't get me wrong. We love those, too. But laughter is free. So we enjoy it daily in large doses.

We sometimes laugh so hard at home--all by ourselves--that our poor dog thinks something must be wrong with us. We also get some curious glances from people in restaurants or other public places when we start laughing so hard that we are mopping tears from our faces. And anyone who knows our daughter will tell you that in a crowded theater or any other kind of "venue" where a lot of people are, when she laughs, the people in that crowd who know her, immediately know the owner of that laugh! We've been told more than once by performers who were on stage, after the show, that they could pick out where she was sitting in the dark auditorium by her laugh.

Laughter is infectious.

Uplifting.

Encouraging.

I went to a bridal shower a couple of years ago and little cards were handed out to the guests who were asked to write down their best advice to the bride and sign their name to it. Well, I knew the couple were already committed to having Jesus in the center of their marriage, so that #1 bit of advice had already been fulfilled. The #2 bit, from my own heart anyway, is what I wanted to pass along: "Laugh together. Every day."

Now, when I was handed a diagnosis of cancer in 1987, I learned pretty early on that that gift of laughter--of a merry heart--was still intact. Life didn't immediately become one of doom and gloom and shadows and tears. And fears. Because of the promise in the Word that Jesus already paid for my healing, I had hope. A peace. Even though I knew I was getting ready to go through something new to me, there would still be joy even in the midst of---whatever it was that was going to happen.

I felt like Short Round (of Indiana Jones fame) was saying to me, "Hang on Lady, we going for a ride!" And how true that advice would, quite literally, turn out to be!

Hang on Lady, we going for a Ride!


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