Destination Laughter

Chapter One Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 NIV

And A Little Child Shall Lead Them

As a single parent of two small children, I tried to make sure that I did every thing just right to ensure that my boys (they are grown now, and I still refer to them as my boys), grew up to know how much I loved them, how much Jesus loved them, and how important it was for us to show Jesus how much we loved Him. We would read bible stories at bed time, say the blessing at dinner, and attend Sunday school and church on Sunday Mornings. As any mother of preschool children knows, half the battle of attending church on Sunday mornings is actually getting to the church on Sunday mornings. There were many days when I thought to myself that it would be easier to wake up on Sunday mornings with nothing more than the lofty ambition of being able to make it to the Sunday evening service. We could start a new tradition. We could call it the Easter Sunset Service. As my children grew, we had many Sunday morning mishaps, misplaced shoes, misunderstandings, and missed opportunities to stop and laugh because we were all so busy just trying to make it to church on time. I remember when David my oldest was about five years old and James was probably three years old. Every Sunday morning I gave the same speech on the way to church. I would stress to them that it was very important to behave in church. That we were going to God’s house and that we had to be respectful in Gods House. I would say, “You can’t run in God’s house.” “You need to use your inside voice in God’s house”. “You need to be on your best behavior in God’s house.” I would say these words over and over again until I guess one day James, (who has always been the one willing to speak his mind) with such sincerity in his voice, asked me, “Mama, if this is God’s house, why isn’t He ever home when we get here?” As I thought about that question from the point of view of a three year old, I suppose it was a valid question. He went to God’s house every Sunday, expecting to “see God” and as far as he could tell, God was never home. I think even at the age of three, James was speaking words of wisdom to me even if he didn’t know it. Many times, we look for God to show up in a mighty way. We expect thunder and lightening, or maybe an angel to appear at the door with a telegram, or I guess these days we would expect to get a text or a message on our face book page. We are trying so hard to see God or hear from Him in a powerful base voice that shakes the leaves from the trees and moves the mountains in to the sea that we never stop to listen for that still small voice. The voice that whispers in our ear, the way a parent whispers “I love you” in the ear of a child at night as they are tucking them in to bed. The same comforting voice that tells that child “I will be here tonight while you sleep and I will be here for you tomorrow as you wake to a brand new day”.

It was right around this same time. One Sunday morning I had decided to take David and James into the Sanctuary for the morning service instead of sending them to the Children’s church. I had the bright idea that I wanted to start teaching them how to behave and pay attention during the main worship service. I don’t know why I didn’t start out sitting in the back of the church, but for some reason, I chose to sit about three rows from the front of the church. This was not the place to be sitting if you wanted to be out of sight and out of mind. Things started out okay. I had James on one side, David on the other side, and no one else was sitting on our pew. I think the sight of two squirming boys scared them away. We started with a very traditional opening hymn. We sang a couple of versus of Bringing in the sheaves. By the time we started singing the chorus for the second time, David had decided to join in. In a voice with volume that would have echoed through a football stadium, David proceeded to sing his version of the song the way he was hearing it. He gave us two verses of “bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheep.” Now that I think about it, David probably had it right that day. The bible tells us in Isaiah 53:6 that “we are like sheep who have gone astray”, and as Christians, we need to be busy, bringing in the sheep. As the service continued, the pastor was well into his three point sermon, but had not quite finished with point number two, and it did not appear that point number three was going to be surfacing anytime soon. David and James were becoming increasingly anxious and ready to go home. James kept asking me if it was time to go yet and I kept trying to assure him that it was almost time to go home. The longer the pastor preached the more vocal James was becoming. Finally as the pastor started to move toward the invitation, I decided that it might be best if I quietly slipped out of the sanctuary a few minutes early so that no one would be distracted by James and David’s continual request to “hurry up and leave.” I had James in one hand, David in the other hand. As I turned to grab my bible and coat, James slipped his hand from mine and proceeded to run up the center isle of the church. It probably would not have been so bad if he would have just ran up the isle, but as he ran, he proceeded to throw his hands in the air and do a little Pentecostal cheer. He shouted to the top of his lungs, “woooo hooooo…we’re out of here…we’re going home.” Laughter filled the sanctuary as people turned to watch as James made his way all the way to the foyer doors. He was truly rejoicing that day. I watched helplessly from the third row from the front. I felt my face turn several shades of red. At that point, I didn’t want to run up the isle, I wanted to crawl under the pews. The Pastor just looked out into the congregation and responded with a simple but true statement. He said, “I don’t know what ya’ll are laughing at, he’s just saying what ya’ll are thinking.

James ran up the isle that day shouting for joy because he was going home. He didn’t care who knew it. He wanted everyone to know he was thrilled he was going home. As Christians I think we sometimes forget to enjoy the journey we are on. This life is a journey. And one day we are going home. This life is just a dress rehearsal for when we get to our other life in heaven. We should be shouting for joy at the thought of one day seeing Jesus face to face.

God speaks to us in so many ways. Sometimes it is through the words or the actions of a child. Over the years, as I have watched my boys grow into young men, it has become more and more obvious to me that God was using them to teach me, just a often as he was using me to teach them. So it is true…a little child shall lead them.

Dear Lord, Thank you for speaking to me in big ways and in little ways. Help me to be open to the opportunities that you are providing for me everyday, and to rejoice in you always.