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When your children tell stories about growing up in your home, will they smile as they remember the laughter? Will they tell their children about the funny things mommy and daddy did, the times when laughter could not be stopped?

Children love to laugh. And sometimes their laughter bubbles over at the most inopportune times – and those moments often give you an opportunity to make memories of joy. Building a family requires compromise and dinner time was one of those places my husband and I tried to incorporate both of our traditions. We also spent the evening meal together as a means to connect with our children but also as a time to teach good manners. You probably know where I’m going with this. Occasionally, one of the children would find a failed manner as particularly funny. At such moments my husband sternly reminded us all to shape up. Alas, at times his exhortation fed the giggles and if the children dared to look at one another, the laughter found a way out. If only they could get mommy to laugh with them! Of course, as a good mother and wife, I tried to always support my husband’s exhortations but once in a while, it was all too much for me as well, and they would catch the glimmer in my eye. Caught! “Daddy, Momma is laughing, too!” tattled one of them and suddenly even Pop dissolved into laughter over the silliness of the moment. Our children still talk about those times now.

Looking back, I wish I had found even more time to laugh with my children. I am going to make sure I laugh and laugh with my grandchildren.

I will have silly, loving pet names for them;
I will pretend we are on wild adventures
I will create crazy, out of the ordinary events, like eating ice cream for
breakfast and making blue pancakes.
I will write silly notes, read silly books;
We will travel to pretend places;
We will go on pajama runs;
We will write silly stories by each person adding a line;
And we will stare at each other until we laugh out loud.

Sharing the Laughter

Young moms with small children and lots of repetitive chores can’t always see the laughter. But we can be a blessing and help each other remember to laugh. Maybe a mom you notice having a hard time laughing about things would appreciate some time for herself. Perhaps you can spare an hour or two to spend with her children. You can tell her the only condition is she must do something that makes her laugh. If we can see our circumstances in a positive light, understanding the hard parts often lead to the good parts, we can handle what God is using to bring us closer to Him.

The holidays are approaching and the temptation is to make them far more difficult to enjoy than God ever intended. Be intentional about teaching your children that remembering our blessings gives us a reason to laugh out loud. Help them create a notebook with a list of blessings, especially in light of the suffering in the world today. Remember all those good things we take for granted, the sun that wakes us every morning and is evidence of God’s covenantal love for us, the crunchy leaves that are so much fun to pile up and hide in, the scent of burning wood.

Thanksgiving is a great time to teach children to remember God’s blessings and how they make us laugh with joy. Give your children a piece of legal paper or 11 X 14 paper so they can make placemats for Thanksgiving or a special event. Choose white paper (or a light color) and ask your children to draw pictures or write things they are thankful for. To make it more silly and fun, ask them to draw pictures of things that make them laugh.

As silly ideas come to mind, write them on slips of paper and create a jar you can draw from on days that seem to get too serious or too busy.

Such exercises will probably give you more joy than your children.

Of course, we all know that laughter can be painful. We must laugh with each other, never at each other. If someone is hurt by our laughter it is not pleasing to God. Sometimes it seems our entire culture enjoys sarcasm. Someone is usually hurt by sarcasm – especially children who don’t really understand the concept. Be careful not to laugh at mistakes until you know the child will not take it personally and it ready to laugh at themselves.

What does laughter have to do with being a daughter of the King? What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How thankful I am that I will enjoy Him forever. But am I enjoying Him now? The Bible talks about joy – the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12). In my concordance there are 218 verses with the word “joy,” and 17 more verses with the word “joyful or joyous.” God wants us to enjoy Him now, too. Somehow, for many of us, we let the busyness of our schedules snuff out the laughter. I am thankful for the ‘laughter people’ God has put into my life. They encourage me to laugh more at myself and my circumstances. Even medical experts are discovering laughter can improve our health.

Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.  Proverbs 4:23

Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God. Psalm 146:5

A thankful heart is a laughing heart and is almost always fun to be around.

Happy Thanksgiving…