(This post is part of a series. If you'd like to know what it's all about, go here.)
Hi! Today marks the halfway point of the days of Now. Another twenty days of this, and I'm gonna start living in the future like nobody's business. I've got things to plan, man!
I'm just kidding. I really love the focus these days have given me. It's a focus on Jesus and on gratitude that's been really great for my heart and mental attitude. Hey, that rhymes!
Today was monumental for another reason: it was my little baby Ben Ben's last day in the church nursery. He is turning four this week. I really don't know why everybody is so excited. This is not something to celebrate! This is a punch in the gut. I have no babies in my house anymore. I really stretched three and sucked it for all it was worth. Three is still baby. Four is not. My heart weeps.
But for some reason, everybody else thought we should open presents, eat cake, and act like everything is hunky dunky (name that movie). So, I went along with that. I'm a mom. I am resilient. I can do this.
My point in all this, is that right in the middle of the chocolate cake, Jesus gave me a gift. A now gift. It was just what I needed. I'm being a little dramatic about the whole punch in the gut thing. I really am grateful that I have a healthy boy who is growing, and I love celebrating the birth of all my children. But, I did feel an undercurrent of slight sadness today. The Lord knew that, and He cheered me right up with one of my top five favorite sounds in all the land: my sister's laugh.
Man, she pulled a doozy today that was especially magnified by her nine-months-pregnant state. How do I describe Holly's laugh? It was the meat of my childhood. If mom ever made sukiyaki for dinner, which we secretly called suki yucky, I knew I wouldn't die as long as I had Holly's laugh. I could survive any childhood terror with that beautifully contagious guffaw in my ears. Holly laughs with every fiber of her being, and that is what she did today.
It all started with the discovery of a portrait that Sara drew of me, her lovely mother.
Something about it set Holly to laughing. I think it was the teeth. Great waves of laughter rippled over her, and the tears flowed freely. She was consumed. She was past the point of control, and she couldn't stop. And, I, cheered and bolstered by this happy turn of events, set a pot of water to boil and gathered clean towels. For I knew that this would surely lead to the delivery of her baby in my living room. And my glad thought was that if she kept on laughing, I could keep the baby for myself, and she would never even notice.
The End.
Jesus, I heard You today in the sound of Holly's laugh. It is music to my ears. You are brilliant to have created it. ~R
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
(Job 8:21)
Oh, man. I started all over again when I scrolled down and saw the picture. It kills me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely post. I'm so glad my out-of-controlness brought someone some joy. :)
And by the way, you have three layers of teeth in that picture. It is SUCH a likeness of you. I need a copy of it. Like, yesterday.
I wanted to laugh reading it...that kind of laughing is contagious!! I hope you didn't pee your pants Holly!
ReplyDeleteJesus, I see you today in your extravagant kindness and favor. "God is so rich in mercy, and he loved me so very much, that even while I was dead because of my sins, he gave me life when he raised Christ from the dead. For he raised me from the dead along with Christ, and I am seated with him in the heavenly realms---all because I am one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to me as an example of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward me, as shown in all he has done for me through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 (NLT)