Laughter And Abundant Life

I blame my children.
I don’t ever recall having bladder issues pre-kids. It all went downhill after my first child was born. My bladder seemed to have shrunk to the size of a pea.


During my third and fourth pregnancies, my husband happened to be working as the Assistant Pastor to a very close friend. His wife and I became great buddies. Laughter continually permeated that friendship and ironically, we always seemed to be pregnant together. We knew where every public restroom was within a 100 mile radius.


On one particular instance, we were on our way home from a fun shopping excursion and both of us had to use the bathroom. At the time I did not know I was pregnant, but she knew that she was. We were only a few miles from home so we decided to wait. Why did we wait?????


Seconds later we were in a minor car accident. She ended up on a stretcher with a neck brace, all because she told the police officer she was pregnant. The EMT’s were called and she was strapped down. I got to ride along in the ambulance. Even though she told them how desperately she needed to go to the bathroom, they would not let her get up. The minute she was on a bed in the emergency room, I told her how much I loved her and with a smirk abandoned her and ran down the hall to find the nearest restroom.
I could hear her calling after me~
“this IS NOT fair!!!”...
I almost peed my pants laughing.


Now we can both laugh at that story, even more so knowing that I found out a few days later I was also pregnant.
I should’ve been on a stretcher next to her.


So, what is my application in all of this?
When I first started typing these words,
I honestly did not know.
Here are some things I do know~


Every single second of our life has God’s hand all over it. He knows exactly what’s going to happen as you take your next breath. He knows what’s going to happen tonight, tomorrow, next month and next year. He even knows what’s going to happen 28 years from now (the age of my fourth child who had a part in all of this) He has a reason for everything.
He even has a reason for you reading this right now.


It seems like this past year the entire world has become so serious and focused on all the bad, that I’m afraid we’ve carried that over into our personal lives as well. We get so busy with our schedules and agendas and life in general that when interruptions come that we aren’t expecting, we get irritated and even angry.
Smiles and laughter have become the exception instead of the rule.


This is what a pandemic and politics have done to us. A dark cloud looms over us continually.


That’s not what God ever intended our lives to look like.


He intended our lives to be filled with joy and laughter and abundant life.


So, why am I telling you my story?
It was a huge inconvenience for both of us pregnant women. We did not want to be stuck in a hospital all afternoon. We did not want to be in literal pain because we had to go to the bathroom SO BAD. But, I can look back at that moment in time and smile. I can even laugh. And 28 years later I can listen to my daughter’s complain about the over abundance of my use of public restrooms,
(when the reality of the situation is that it’s their fault to begin with) and inwardly chuckle.
Their day is coming.


I am not trying to downplay the circumstances of this last year, but circumstances should not control us.
God should.
His joy should. His peace should.
His sovereignty should.


Satan comes to steal and destroy.
God came to give us abundant life.


So, maybe I do know the lesson in this story.
​The lesson is, there is no lesson.
It’s a small, insignificant story in my life that makes me smile. A story that I wanted to share so that you could smile along with me, and maybe even laugh.


If you find yourself getting angry or sad over the suffocating circumstances of this present world, all you need do is look back and remember all the good. All the laughter. All the joy. Remember all the funny stories God has blessed your life with.


We don’t need to know why everything happens. Perhaps certain things happen solely for God’s pleasure. Maybe God knew that as I prayed this morning I needed a smile, so He brought that random memory to my mind and I laughed out loud. That laughter in the remembering. And maybe the only reason He made sure we didn’t use the bathroom before getting into that vehicle 28 years ago was to make YOU smile TODAY, to bring laughter into YOUR life.


Because that’s what kind of God He is.






“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”
Ephesians 1:3, 5

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Isaiah 46:9-10

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:32

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10

“Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.”
Job 8:19, 21