An Attitude of Gratitude: Laughter

On today, I express my gratitude for laughter.  Listen up guys.  Everything that I am grateful for is not super deep.  I am so easily amused.  Ask Bible Study Mama.  She will tell you that I laugh in my sleep.  Not just a giggle.  I am talking deep belly laughs.  The kind that really should wake me up.  Sometimes, she asks what I was dreaming.  Usually, I cannot recall anything specific.

Now earlier this year, my laughter was replaced with crying in my sleep.  I am talking deep belly crying.  The kind that actually woke me up.  On more nights than I can count.  Bible Study Mama did not have to ask me what I was dreaming.  Usually, she would rub my back and cry her own tears.  The rivers of tears that I have shed make me so thankful for every laugh.

Fortunately, I work with kids that provide an endless source of entertainment.  Remember ya’ll.  I am easily amused.  You may be in need of a little laugh today so I will share a story that happened just this past week.  My current caseload of children range in age from 11 months old to six years old.  A high diaper demographic.  Quite often, my little friends soil their diapers.  Sometimes, they do it at the end of a session.  No big deal.  We are walking back to class anyway.  And other times, they do it right at the beginning.

My friend pushed out a heavy load shortly after he walked into my office.  And I say pushed because he stopped in his tracks on the way to pick up one of his favorite toys.  And made the face.  If you have been around kids, you know the poop face.  Intense concentration.  Staring at a fixed point.  No movement.  No response to questions.  An occasional grunt.  And as soon as he finished, he began to cry.  He despises dirty diapers.  I despise smelling them in an enclosed office.  We made our way to the bathroom to get rid of the source of OUR discomfort.

Except.  The wildest thing happened.  He started to scream in protest when I was changing his diaper.  I calmly explained that I was getting rid of the poop.  He yelled at me.  Legitimately yelled at me and told me that he did NOT poop.  Ummmm….excuse me, young man…can you not smell what I smell?  Can you not see what I see?  Now, I do not mind asking kids questions for clarity.  So, I showed him the diaper and asked what it was if it wasn’t poop.  He immediately stopped crying and said “chocolate” with the biggest grin on his face.  And I LAUGHED.  We laughed together.  And I am grateful that I get to do that.  I hope laughter finds you today.  #wepreach