Laughing with the Lord #6

Welcome to Laughing with the Lord #6! 

Sometimes I wonder if my purpose in life is to make God chuckle. I do so many ridiculous things on a regular basis that I’m beginning to feel like a fourth Stooge.

Take this for instance. I was filling the salt shaker, and this is what it looks like when you fill it from the bottom and turned upside down, then forget to put your fingers over the holes—a big ol’ pile of salt. I wondered why it was taking so long to fill that little bluebird shaker.

I once washed a drinking glass with a load of laundry. (Don’t judge me. At least one of you has done that at one time or another. Right? Please? Am I right?) I don’t know how I missed it when I tossed the clothes in the washer, but I sure didn’t miss it when I was transferring those same clothes into the dryer. Took me an hour to gather every last sliver (and I do mean sliver). On the bright side, they were the cleanest, shiniest, and freshest-smelling glass slivers I’ve ever seen.

And this little kitchen accident occurred when I mistook my plastic salt and pepper grinders for glass. I baked a cake while they were sitting on the stove. Looks like something Salvador Dali would create, doesn’t it? 

At least I give God plenty of reasons to chuckle at the silliness of His daughter. And for me, that’s a good enough reason to be silly! 

Until the next time… 

Laughing with the Lord #5

Laughing with the Lord #5 

Welcome! A while ago I wrote about my standing in the rain to get pictures of a rainbow on the way to the school my granddaughter attends, then backing into a parking spot and stepping into five inches of icy water.

The view outside Molly's school

Apparently, I didn’t learn the first time around. Last week our area experienced its first snowfall (aside from the snow atop the mountains which has been falling for the past month). The roads were slick, and I was running late—again. I skidded into the parking lot and backed into a spot against that same incline. I dashed into the school, retrieved my granddaughter, and apologized profusely for being five minutes late. Just as we were about to get into the car, Molly stepped on a slab of ice, cracking it (five inches down, of course), fell to her knees, and in the process dragged me down with her. I performed a dandy geriatric tango/hip-hop/boogie routine and finally pirouetted into a full-fledged body spasm that must have resembled a cow being electrocuted.

I think it’s clear that God wants me to stop backing into parking spots, don’t you? It’ll be less entertaining for the other parents, but I must do what He wants me to do, even if it means depriving Him of a huge belly laugh once in a while. 

Until the next time …

Laughing with the Lord #4

Welcome to #4 of Laughing with the Lord!

Wondering what makes God smile has long been a burning question for me. I know He smiles and laughs because He gave us the same abilities and imbued each of us with a sense of humor. Why wouldn't He join us?

When I raised my children I was too busy and tired to even wonder about it. But now that I'm older, wiser, and the grandmother of one lovely granddaughter and five handsome grandsons, I've witnessed time and again many things that surely make our Lord smile. Here are a few:

1.)   I'm convinced God smiles when His children appreciate the beauty of the world He created for us.

2.)   When Dustin, my oldest grandchild, was just a little guy--maybe a year old or so--we were at a restaurant and my daughter put a lemon slice up to his lips. He obliged her and chomped down. You can imagine the look on his face as he, for the first time in his young life, experienced what is probably the sourest taste on earth. We, of course, being the loving people we are, laughed until our sides ached. Hunter, her second child came along a short while later. Dennae did it again, and while Hunter shuddered at the first taste, he loved it! From then on, we made sure to ask for a slice of lemon with our water so Hunter could munch to his heart's content. Surely God smiled at the reactions of both boys. The Lord knows lemons are sour, and sooner or later everyone has to take that first taste. Nobody was hurt, nobody cried, and we were able to witness those precious first experiences.


3.)  ... when He watches little boys (or girls) pick dandelions-gone-to-seed and then blow their seeds all over the place ensuring their existence the following spring (and keeping Round-Up in business).

4.)  He loves it every time a child brings Mom that inevitable bouquet of the bright yellow flowers, and sees that both mom and child are as pleased as if it were a bunch of the most expensive orchids.                          

5.)  I believe He smiles each time children find such pleasure playing in the same material He used to create Man.

6.)  I believe our Father grins each time he sees a child experience snow for the first time, watches the wonder on his or her face as they feel how cold it is and how it covers everything, making their yard and neighborhood a magical world of white. If they're lucky, it's good packing snow, and they can make snowmen, igloos, snow forts and snowballs. Surely God is pleased.

And if He sees you standing on a glacier, thrilled to have made the hike and to have conquered the vast pile of snow and ice, He chuckles.

Until the next time ...

Laughing with the Lord #3

Welcome to Laughing with the Lord #3!

Every one of us has had experience with children who bring us to tears with laughter by their innocence and utter lack of guile. Here are some examples of the way I think little ones bring a big smile to God's Face.

1.     Many moons ago when my children were about 6, 7, and 8, a co-worker and I took a trip one evening to the Grand Rapids International Airport in Michigan to view the landing of Air Force One with President Jimmy Carter aboard. I nearly missed the whole event as it was raining so hard and the crowd was so huge I barely noticed the plane landing or the president disembarking. Nevertheless, the next morning I was eager to tell my little ones about Mommy's great presidential experience. I tried to build up the excitement by asking them who they thought I'd seen. Their guesses were typical of kids that age and nowhere near correct. Eventually I took pity on them and said, "I saw ... the ... president ... of the ... United States." Darice, the 7-year-old looked up at me, milk from her bowl of Cheerios dripping from her gaping mouth, and summoning all her presidential expertise, said, "You saw ... George Washington?"

2.     One of my children's favorite quotes was one used in the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. They were close, but not quite accurate. "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an English muffin."

3.     I was a single mom back then and money was scarce. One of their favorite things to eat, though, was something I could afford (and coincidentally, something they recognized from another children's story). I called it fruit cocktail; they called it fruit cottontail.

4.     This one is embarrassing. You know you have morning breath when your three-year-old grandson sits on your lap early one day, and while you cuddle him, he sniffs the air and says, "I smell poop."

I can see God chuckling at the beauty of His little ones' innocence. How about you?

Laughing with the Lord #2

Here's a random list of things I think make our Heavenly Father smile, chuckle, or laugh out loud:

• the look on a baby's face when he/she sneezes
• the many ways a baby can find to smear food all over his/her face and still manage to get chubby
• Molly's idea of playing hide and seek
• a porcupine's face
• a flotilla of sunbathing sea lions
• a butterfly hiding in a profusion of flowers

How about you? What do you think makes Him smile? 

Laughing with the Lord #1

Welcome to my entirely new and twice-weekly Laughing with the Lord post! Maybe some of you know that Laughing with the Lord is my brand for the books I write, and I thought it was high time I shared some of the things (aside from what I write in my books) that I think makes our Lord and Savior smile, chuckle, or laugh out loud. 

As I state on my website by the same name, I firmly believe the Lord has seen fit to give us all the beauty, glory, and awesome diversity of His creation for our pleasure and survival. As if that weren't enough, He also gave us (among countless other gifts and abilities) a sense of humor with which to appreciate those aspects of human behavior we can't quite explain any other way.

To that end, let me give you today's example. I pick up my granddaughter, Molly, from kindergarten each afternoon, and today I was running late. As I dashed out the door and backed the car out of the garage, I noticed that the sun was trying to break through the ever-present (at least for the past few weeks) rainclouds. I knew there would be a rainbow closely. 

Sure enough, as I rounded the corner to the road on which the school is situated, there it was behind me in all its stunning glory. I rolled to a stop at the side of the road, jumped out with my phone, and got thoroughly soaked as I took pictures of this glorious spectacle. Of course, that put me even further behind, and as I skidded into the parking lot of the school and backed into a parking space against a grassy incline, I failed to notice I'd parked in six inches of icy water--until I stepped smack-dab into it. By that time it was too late, so I plowed through trying to look as though I'd planned the whole thing--the running behind, the wet hair, the soaked shoes and socks. Yep, all planned to perfection. 

I'm pretty sure I heard God chuckle. But aside from the joy it gives me to think I made God happy, it was worth all the sogginess to gaze at His covenant with His children. 

Until tomorrow ... 

12 Points to Consider Before Becoming a Writer

At some point in our lives, or maybe at several points, we're faced with deciding what direction we want to take with our profession or if we're ready to take on a second livelihood. We might be tied into a particular job for multiple reasons--great pay, pension, healthcare--and those are all legitimate reasons to stay. And if that job takes twenty hours of your day, each and every day of the week, perhaps you shouldn't be thinking about moving into another career, or side job, or hobby.

But if it doesn't or if you're considering a change in career, and if you feel the tug to be a writer, now or sometime in the future when the kids are grown, you're retired, or you just feel you have the time, then think about some of the following points to see if you're suited for the writer's life.

1.     If you think nothing of carrying on a conversation with the people in your head, you might be a writer. If you find yourself eavesdropping on those same people in your head, even if you're not conversing with them, you certainly could be a writer. While it might sound silly, it's a common practice for writers to rehearse scenes in our heads as we test dialogue, see how characters interact with one another, or just plot out a certain part of the book. It's as natural to us as practicing the piano is to a pianist. I imagine they sometimes rehearse in their heads; we're no different.

2.     If watching people around you, checking out their mannerisms, how they stand, sit, walk, converse with others, how they discipline their children or talk to their spouse or friends, is comfortable and natural for you, you could be a writer.

Smooth sailing toward my goal of successful author! Wait... 

that's not me. That's a kite. An otter kite. And it's heading

straight for that tree branch on the right. Such an easy mistake 

to make: author-otter. Yep. 

3.     If you see someone and think to yourself, "What a great so and so (name of character in your manuscript/short story he/she would be!" then you could be a writer. Ditto if you run home and write down his/her description for future reference. 

4.     If everyday events trigger ideas for a story, then you might consider becoming a writer. If you can't get through a day without coming up with story ideas, you could very well become a writer.

6.     If you find yourself taking notes (physically or mentally) while reading a book, you might have the stuff to be a writer. And if you find yourself correcting someone's grammar, punctuation, or other aspects of a book, you should think about being a writer (or even an editor).

7.     If you don't mind working by yourself for sizable chunks of time, you could be a writer. Yes, writing is a far less solitary endeavor than it was even twenty years ago, but for the most part the actual writing--sitting down at the computer and pounding out words--should be done while you're alone or with very quiet people... except for #8, that is.

8.    On the other hand, if you can concentrate well with chaos all around you--kids, pets, spouse, television, maybe the neighbor's kids--you could also be a writer. It depends on how much noise and distraction you can filter out while thinking clearly and actually writing something worthwhile. I spent many an evening writing my first manuscript with the ruckus of three teenagers all around me. In fact, for a while there it was difficult for me to write when it was quiet. I needed the background noise.

9.     If you don't mind starting at the bottom of the heap and working your way upward, paying your dues, working hard and taking direction, accepting constructive criticism (mean-spirited criticism should never be accepted), constantly straining forward to learn more, write more, accept rejection (because it will come), read, read, and read some more, and write every chance you have to get better and better at your craft, you might just have what it takes to be a writer.

10.     If you have a natural talent for writing, you should definitely consider becoming a writer. If you don't seem to have an innate ability, try taking some college courses to see if it can be drawn out of you or if you even enjoy it. A lot of writing, at least in my experience, seems to be intuitive. If you feel you have the ability to honestly view your writing as either good and in need of more work (and all writers, successful or not, have to keep learning and striving to become better), or hopeless and no amount of work will change that fact, it will take you a long way to making the final decision. A lot of what makes a good writer can be learned. Some of it cannot.

11.     If you can live with the fact that you probably won't be the next J.K. Rowling or John Grisham, you could be a writer. If you're bound and determined to hit the bestseller lists first time out you're either deluded, optimistic, incredibly driven, or ... right. You just might be right! Just because most of us won't reach the pinnacle of the bestseller lists on a regular basis doesn't mean you won't. Perhaps you'll be that one in a million. If you can accept those odds, go for it! (And that's not to denigrate those who won't reach the top of the heap. There's only so much room up there or else we'd all be there and there'd be nobody below us to keep those mid-lists warm.)

12.     If you think writing a book will make you rich and that's the reason you're doing it, you're fooling yourself and should probably drop the idea of being a writer. If, on the other hand, you want to write whether you make a dime or not, if you can't help yourself from writing, then you have what it takes to be a writer. A few of us get rich. Many of us write and eventually get published. Some of us, rich or not, make a mark on our fellow human beings. Frankly, as much as I'd enjoy making more money writing books than I do, I'd opt for influencing fellow human beings in a positive way any day of the week. If you can live with the idea that you might not make enough money in a year to pay for your internet access, but you have readers who love your work and tell you what a difference you've made in their lives, well, you're definitely writer material.

No two ways about it.