Good morning everyone! Last night I was worried it wouldn’t all get done. I am going to a healthy boundaries workshop today in Vancouver and will end up in Estacada for a young clergy retreat that will be for a few days. Then I am home for a day and a half then head out to a women in ministry conference for a few days. Phew!
I was realizing I need to pack and and and….I wasn’t sure how the blog was going to happen tonight. Then my person said, “well, I would love to guest blog….” I was so excited. So today you are in for a treat because Jennifer Gossett is guest blogging! Hooray! Jenny is an incredible person (in my humble opinion ;)). I think you will find in her words a depth of spirituality and refreshing take on scripture. She makes my preaching much better because she is new to this whole church thing and questions what I assume. I could go on and on about Jenny but I think I should let her speak….enjoy!
Genesis 21:1-7
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
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Sarah, a one-hundred year old woman, has a son and thinks it is hilarious so she names him Isaac (the Hebrew word for laughter). Laughter and humor is an amazing thing, but I’m not sure I’d be laughing if I was a one-hundred year old pregnant lady. Maybe Sarah is on to something. When I was younger I remember reading my mom’s Reader’s Digest and reading the “Laughter, The Best Medicine” section. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America even offerLaughter Therapy. If the Bible, the Reader’s Digest, and Peer Reviewed Scientific Research say it is so, it must be true.
When I was in elementary school I remember waiting at the picture window at my house for my parents to get home from work, everyday I was convinced something bad had happened to them. As a child, I was in constant fear of losing my mom. Five years ago around this time, my mother Shirley passed away unexpectedly. I remember getting the call from my brother John on a Monday night. I immediately started screaming and yelling and balling my eyes out. My worst nightmare had come true. For the next few days I was in a trance-like state, nothing was funny but nothing was sad either. I called in sick to work that Tuesday. I waited until everyone left the office and went in to work. I spent a few hours making sure my work was covered, got in my car, and made the drive from Corvallis to Spokane.
Over the next week I spent time with my family but we struggled to even talk to each other. I didn’t know how to make anyone feel better, let alone myself. The night after the funeral while some folks hit the bar, I stayed home with my sister in law’s sister Amy who was pregnant and in no shape to paint the town with my brothers. We joked around, laughing about the most random things. After my brothers came home we played practical jokes on them. My brother Jason demonstrated how he was the best dancer in the world while I made up a freestyle rap. I think it all made us feel a little better.
Now when I go to visit my brothers and I spend time telling funny stories about our childhood. Even thought I still miss my mom, it miraculously it makes me feel better.
We all cope with death, illness, and loss and life’s unexpected moments in different ways. Perhaps we should try a little more humor once in a while. If you need a good laugh today, check out this video:
Living in Violet 