These past few weeks, as many of you know, have been frustrating on many levels for me. Since Christmas, it has been very difficult to establish a routine with our home life, school and Kindermusik. The weather and illness have made every day a huge question mark as to what we are going to do. Those who have known me for long will tell you I am the quintessential calendar girl. I have calendars in practically every room of the house, I carry a planner and I have a calendar on my computer. I love schedules, plans and routines. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have instilled this in my daughters as well. So, we are driving each other crazy with the lack of routine in our household.
I have discovered that finding something to laugh or joke about daily makes a huge difference in our attitudes and treatment of each other. Finding something silly to do or say can break the tension of frustration or discouragement at things that we cannot control. Hannah, our seven year old, is terrific at making me laugh. She says the quirkiest things, comes up with the funniest facial expressions and in general makes me smile. Sarah, our thirteen year old, is for the most part fun to talk to and be around. Yes, you can read back through old posts and know there are also times I want to wrap my hands around her throat and/or scream. But, it is also fun to have a young lady in the house. Turning music on, singing at the tops of our voices, watching her roll her eyes as I dance around the kitchen with a dish towel, all bring smiles to our day.
I opened up my Women’s study Bible this morning and randomly it fell open to the page with the following devotional. It made me think that we all need to be reminded to find joy, laughter and something lighthearted in each day. The following was written by Ingrid Trobisch and appears on page 702 of the Women’s Devotional Bible copywrite 1990 by Zondervan Press.
There should be a lot of laughter and games in a family. I don’t know of anything better to relieve the inevitable tension that comes when people live under the same roof. A teenager who was having trouble with his parents (good friends of ours) told the one day at the table, “If we couldn’t all laugh together around this table, I don’t think I would be able to stand this family.” Love and laughter hold us together.
So even though the skies are grey, the ground is covered in ice crusted snow, routines are not routine and it is easy to be discouraged, play a game of peek-a-boo, do a little tummy tickle, make up a joke, read a funny book, sing songs and dance. Laughter does make the world go round – just like the old song says.
