Laughter, A Good Beginning for Any Day

Reminds me of someone I know!

Good morning son! It's a beautiful morning here at home....freezing cold at 17 degrees, but beautiful. The sun is shining and the wind is quiet.

Aaron

I can "talk" with you for about an hour and then I'm headed out to coffee at Starbucks with Chelly, Sabra and Corey. We can continue when I get back....and with them, your guess is as good as mine!

Dad and I are going to have birthday cake with the Troy 9 this afternoon and then be back for the Super Bowl at 6:30. We're going to try a new recipe for dinner by layering the nachos and baking them. Who would have thought? Layering nachos. I'll let you know how they turn out.

It's been freezing cold here and the artic wind makes it almost impossible to enjoy being outside. Dad and Jamison remain faithful to their walk everyday but because of the cold and wind they are only walking about half their time. Your dad looks like the little boy in "Christmas Story". He's so bundled up that he couldn't hurt himself if he fell but then again, he couldn't get back up either. Jamison is in his long winter coat and two sweaters but by the time he gets back his little feet are frozen. He will not leave his winter boots on. We've tried everything. So, dad brings him home and I run some tepid water in the shower and i rinse his feet and legs...and belly, off and to warm him up. He loves it. He comes right in from the back door and goes right to the bathroom.

I'm expanding out on my blog somewhat. Dad has been encouraging me for months now to write more often that just our Sunday conversation. I'm simply going to be sharing what I'm doing in my studio at the time; sharing the process and encouraging others to find and use their creative side. We ALL have one! Your grandma use to tell me that she just wasn't creative and yet I saw it in everything she did.Long before any of us began re-purposing things, grandma was doing it in her own home. Not because she thought it was "cool", but because she had to. She set a great example and I still find joy in finding ways to re-purpose my "finds". 

Speaking of laughter and joy, I just spent 2 hours with some of the funniest women on earth. I do so miss the laughter of girl friends. Guess I'd best get busy and make more of those here in Troy. What an amazing healing effect joy and laughter can have on our lives. And to think it's all around us every day. What a waste not to enjoy it. As you know, I love a good laugh. We use to have some of the most awesome times, you, dad and I, laughing over the silliest things. Sometimes I think laughing over silly things are the best type of laughter. Many have said, and I concur, God must have the keenness sense of humor of us all. I mean, like I've said before, all I have to do is look in the mirror. I mean if you really think about how we're made you have to laugh. For crying out loud, we're full of holes and basically made of water. It's a wonder we don't leak all over ourselves all day. Well, I guess some of us do come to think of it!  

Me too!

I am so glad God gave us the ability to laugh. What a boring world this would be if we couldn't. Laughter has an amazing ability to heal the mind and the soul. It makes us tingle inside, get goose bumps, feel warm and cozy, it has the ability to sooth and calm, to make us  want to jump up and down until we can't catch our breath. Who could imagine that something as simple as making someone laugh could do all that. Or, that doing that could do the same for you. I think laughter should be the first thing we do every morning and the last thing we do every night. It should be sown in the world like wildflower seeds. I just wonder how many ailments would disappear  if someone spent more time laughing. And the feel of it. Just think about the last time you really had a bout of laughter that took your breath away. I mean you were laughing so hard that the tears ran down your cheeks and probably your leg. If you can't remember that last time, then it's been too long.  

 Laughter is returning to our home. It seems as though it's been a long time coming but it's returning. A very wise woman told me this morning that when you loose someone. (That's really a horrible description. I didn't "loose you". You died.) Anyway, this very wise woman said that the process of dealing with death is a sever year process. Well, heck. If I have 5 1/2 more years of this I'm going to have to find more reasons to laugh. It's not like I have to look very far. Like I said, I can start with the first image I see every morning and just think about God putting me together. I can't begin to know what's on God's mind, but I can sure imagine what it would be like if I were doing it. I mean what do you think about when you think about God creating  the human? I know He intended one thing and got another that's for certain. And being God, I know that He already knew what we were going to do because He gave us free will and being God, He knew we were going to use it. And we did and do!  So, as we talk about free will we have to admit that laughter is a choice, just like everything else in our lives. So we can choose to laugh just like we can choose joy. Sounds like good choices to me. 

I want to be this person.

Having just had a birthday, my 64th, what I see when I look in the mirror is a woman who loves life and knows that God loves her. I see in the mirror a woman who looks older on the outside than she feels on the inside.  Grandma says that's because our bodies get older but our spirit stays young. I like that. I see a woman that has blemishes, definitely needs an eyebrow cleanup, looks better with make-up but seldom adds it with the exception of lipstick. A woman whose bottom teeth are crooked but they work just fine and they're all mine. A woman whose didn't think she had enough holes in her body already so she added more in her ear lobes in hopes that the sparkle added to the ear lobe would only accent what God had already given her. I see a woman whose eyes, although her vision isn't great, have a sparkle to them that her husband loves. I see a woman who may not be perfect  but knows that God has given her a heart that requires she give and share and for that she is ever grateful. I see a woman who was created in God's image and was created for His glory. I see a happy woman, that although circumstances can interfere temporarily, in the end....her love of laughter will win.


Until next week, be Aaron, love mom