Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Grace of Laughing - Bonita Y. McCoy







Martin Luther – You have as much laughter as you have faith.
 

We recently got a new kitten. He’s an orange tabby with huge eyes.
We call him Itty Bitty Orange Kitty or Itty Bitty for short. He’s been a bit of a whirlwind. We hadn’t planned on getting a kitten in November, but one of my sons knew a guy who had a kitten who needed a good home, and we needed a barn cat.

So, one afternoon around the dinner table, it was decided we would be blessed with a cat. The following Monday, I received a call from my son letting me know he was on his way with the kitten. Once he got here, I realized I was totally unprepared for the cat. No toys, no food, and most important, no litter box.

Now, Itty-bitty is a great house cat. However, we don’t need a house cat; we need a barn cat. So, Itty-Bitty is slowly becoming an outside cat with inside privileges.

What has surprised me most about our new addition to our family is my reaction to him. I fell in love with the silly thing. Through all his antics and snuggles and cries for attention, he brought me joy. He filled my heart with mirth and happiness.

He made me laugh. Crazy cat!

I found myself playing with him, in the middle of the afternoon, like I had nothing better to do then to entertain a ten-pound purring machine.

Then the other day as I was coming out of one of the bedrooms, Itty Bitty was sitting outside the door ready to shoot through into the room. I stuck my foot out to stop him. He bowed up, arched his back, and jumped sideways, all at the same time. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

I laughed until I cried. Stupid cat!

But in that moment, I realized something; laughter is a grace -filled blessing from God.
Think what life would be like if we could not laugh … at ourselves, with our friends, or at our beloved animals.

There is a reason Funniest Home Videos was so popular for so long.
Laughter is good for the soul.

In Genesis, Sarai laughed when she heard God intended to give her a child at ninety. But she laughed even more when it came to pass, and she held the child in her arms that had ached for so many years to hold a baby. She laughed and rejoiced at the hearts desire God had fulfilled for her. She said, “God has brought me laughter.” Genesis 21:6 (NLT).

When God brings laughter into your life, enjoy it. If he fulfills a dream or a desire, rejoice. If he gives you friends to share a good giggle with, indulge. If he gives you a crazy cat that makes weird faces, laugh out loud. It will do you good.

A joyful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22 ESV.

Finding God's grace,
Bonita Y. McCoy