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 #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 ...