I come from Laughter... November 27.... What joy really looks like.. Play more... THE JOY CHALLENGE

I'm not the play kind of person... AT ALL.. seriously.. I'm not...  Even with the six kids it has always been hard for me to get down on the ground and play.. or pull out the finger paints and do the arts and crafts thing... I'm not a baker.. I'm not a whole lot of things....  I'm truly a couch potato who could be happy with a laptop and music and quiet contemplation... I really should have been some mystic monk out somewhere else not a mom of 6 kids with a very earthy life...

EXCEPT...

Oh gosh without them .. without those 6 kids I wouldn't be alive... not really...

As more and more of life has gone very wrong, the one thing I hear the most consistently from the Lord is the word.. PLAY....

On the days where nothing could go right and everything was only going very wrong I would feel within the depths of me to get small and find joy... Go search for joy... Every day no matter what was going on around me the search and discovery was to find joy...  More was the occasion to shut down the laptop, step away from the notebooks, power off the phone and go research JOY.... GO experience JOY....

PLAY became powerful

Laughter erupted on the days that I thought could only hold things that were bleak and daunting...

A pervading peace rolled in powering away the dark ominous clouds and I found the ability to breath....

PLAY...

I climbed a tree...
Got down with chalk
Sung kids songs at the top of my voice as Lizzie and I walked from the parking lot of her preschool into the classroom.. Oh YES .. I did,,,

Skidamarink a dink a dink
Skidamarink a do
I love you

OR

Skip skip skip to my lou
Skip skip skip to my lou
Skip skip skip to my lou
Skip to my lou my darling...

I love Lizzie how about you..
I love Lizzie you should too..
I love Lizzie I'll scream til I'm blue
Skip to my lou my darling...

Twirling... swirling.. laughter...

It didn't change circumstances...
There are still so very many problems that seem insurmountable and heart ache and sickness that surround me... And times when they close in and the thought of play seems reprehensible...

BUT what I found out was that in those moments... even as tears fall fast and furious .. and grief seems as it will never be washed away .. loss seems as if it will only ever continue and the landscape of life will only continue to be scattered with gruesome reality...  What becomes paramount to existence is to find out how to incorporate play into all aspects of life then...

No I didn't become the mom of the year with baking marathons and art projects galore...  I searched out and discovered what PLAY would be for me and took deep breaths and dared to find joy amidst the unceasing storms..

 I dared to laugh, I dared to enjoy, I dared to eclipse sorrow with song and in those moments found a melody that could carry me upon its wings and cause me to soar above troubles...  I arose upon wings of eagles and touch triumph...

Jesus laughing is one of my favorite pictures.. Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding so indicative of the heart of the future bridegroom....  Jesus pulling the little children up upon His lap...

Life is so heavy... and the trials and tribulations and situations and circumstances that are before our eyes heart breaking.. in the midst of grief.. in the midst of sin.. in the midst of horror or just plain drudgery... Dare to play.. Dare to touch joy ...  Dare to imbibe ....

Circumstances are still what they are and situations haven't changed but I'm remembering that I come forth from laughter and while there are moments where the tears and the trembling wreck havoc with my heart and body... I turn my tear stained face to the Heavens and remember, "this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.. " the lovingkindnesses of God are new every morning and GREAT is His faithfulness unto me....

Today... as we near the end of our 30 day challenge towards JOY... REMEMBER...... PLAY