Laughter

I love to laugh. No seriously, I do. One of my regrets in life is not seeing John Pinette in person. He was a funny guy. (Truly funny people don’t need foul language to get a laugh.)  I’ve sat with tears streaming down my face from laughter while watching his routine on youtube.  Write his name down and look him up on youtube.com. You’ll thank me.

He who sits in the heavens laughs…Psalm 2:4

 I’ve also got a great laugh. Once I was in Hobby Lobby in the card section, laughing and a woman I hadn’t seen in 11 years – 11 YEARS – E L E V E N  Y E A R S – came running around the corner yelling “That’s got to be Janine! I heard that laugh and knew who it was!”

I’ve even been hired for my laugh! I was told that my current employer heard my laugh during the interview and knew he had to have that laugh in the office.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2

At the same time, I’ve battled depression most of my life.  I don’t allow myself to slip into the darkness of it anymore.  But I know when it’s starting to come around and I make every effort to not give it a place.

I’ve learned to battle it.  I’ve talked to friends and counselors when I need another perspective.  I go through my list of strategies that I can employ.  I pray.  I read my Bible.  I choose to be thankful and remind myself of all the amazing things God’s done for me.   But the key here is the word “battle”.

Dear ones, we have to battle – lay aside every weight and run with endurance the race that is set before us.

I’m laying aside and running with endurance…