Challenged To The Core - Kathi Brixey

Merceline Cox once said “Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.” I like that analogy. I have been asked many times, “What is one thing that keeps your marriage fresh and new?” and I say it is because Del always makes me laugh. Every day he says something to make me chuckle. He is not a stand-up comedian (although he would like to be), but he has a great sense of humor and looks at life from a different point of view that is refreshing to me. I also have a life-long friend who is so like me that we are certain that we were separated at birth. We are so much alike that we often have purchased the same blouse or jacket in different towns, only to show up to the same event wearing it. Very scary! And when we are out together we often get tickled about something silly and the laughter begins. Now I’m not talking about just a laugh, I’m talking about the kind of laughter that starts out cute but quickly turns into side splitting “oh my gosh, I can’t breathe, you look crazy with your face all scrunched up like that” kind of laughter. Soon we are just laughing at each other, thinking about the fact that we are out of control. Can you relate to this behavior? Come on fess up I know that we are not the only two people that get this crazy. When the laughter finally ends our stomach muscles are sore, but our hearts are so full of joy. We both feel closer to each other that the time and distance between our visits does not seem so long or so far away. We may have been heavy hearted when we first get together, but after that out of control laugh we are able to approach what ever made us sad or concerned from a better frame of mind.

When you travel through life with a sore attitude you only get puckered checks and a heavy heart. It takes more muscles to frown that it does to smile. A doctor once told me that I must smile a lot because I had so few wrinkles. He said those who frown all the time will have more wrinkles around their eyes and mouths. Hmmm, maybe smiling is a good thing. What do you think? Have heard about the man who lost a quarter in the pay phone? (Not many around anymore, I know) Well he asked the operator to make the machine give it back and she informed him she couldn’t do that but if he would give her his name and address she would be glad to send it to him in the mail. He shared with her how lengthy and expensive that would be and asked her to just return his coin and be friends. She started to repeat her offer when she asked if he had pressed the coin return which he hadn’t. When he did the phone box spewed out almost four dollars in change. When the operator asked him to put the coins back in the phone he said to her “If you give me your name and address I will be glad to mail you the coins.” You can’t hear a story like that and not smile. Laughter can ease a heavy heart, it can help you forget the pain you might be in, and it can even break the tension of an argument and smooth over hurt feelings.

The next time things get a little tense or you get angry about something try an experiment. Look for something in the situation that if under different circumstances it might make you chuckle. I know it sounds silly but it works. Laughter can diffuse a heated outbreak faster than you think and can lead to taking a breath and really communicating instead of yelling. The only thing that yelling does for you is to give you heartburn, and who needs more of that? The best time for yelling is at the ball game; for your favorite team that is! No matter what the circumstances you find yourself in it might help to remember the sacrifice the Lord made for us. He didn’t have too, but He chose to. It was a choice He made for us, because He loves us. We in turn make choices every day to be angry or sad and heavy hearted. Even when life hands us a bowl of pits we make the choice to be positive or negative, to be angry or to turn it into a positive way for God to work through us. You see, it’s all in how you look at it.

Over the past year I have shared with you some of the health issues I have faced throughout my life. These could have been devastating but for one thing. Early on when I was diagnosed with MS God showed me the benefit of choosing to be dependent on Him and to look for the silver lining. I also chose to look for the time I could laugh about something, sometimes anything, in the situation. One time when I was going through chemotherapy I caught my reflection in a window I was passing only to see the sun’s reflection off my now bald head. It struck me so funny that a friend with me asked if I was alright because I was laughing so hard at the sight. Here I was a woman who has always had great hair and taken joy in lots of different hair styles over the years just standing there reflecting the sunshine off her head. Do you not see the humor there? Well, maybe not some of you, but I CHOSE too! It was much better than the alternative, being miserable and feeling sorry for myself. That would have only served Satan. Sometimes my attitude gave me the opportunity to share Christ in the hospital, at church, and in places I would have never dreamed possible. This sharing gave me hope and gratitude to be used by God even when I looked like death warmed over. I am still amazed that He chose to bless me with salvation and an eternity with Him. I hope you don’t think I’m boasting? I’m not; I only share these things with you to encourage you to see how God’s sovereignty is awesome and never ending.

This week when life hands you a bowl of pits I hope you choose to grow an orchard for Him. It may not be easy but I’m sure you can find something funny in the thought that He chose you to do it. You’re not a farmer or are you? Check your “pulse” this week often, just to make sure you’re not dead, and then remember if you are heavy hearted, laugh and it will help cure whatever ails you.