Time to Laugh

There were eight of us in the van: me, my sister Kristy, our kids (aged 4, 8, almost 8, and 19), Mom, and Dad. Despite the huge age range represented we were all laughing ourselves sick over the same DVD—Season 2 of Spongebob Squarepants. Mom and I admitted that we usually found the show annoying. Dad had never seen it before (make that heard it, since he was driving the van). Yet there we sat, riding along, laughing like kindergarteners.

Maybe the family togetherness had us all so loosened up that we would have laughed at anything. But I’m more convinced that the adults in the car just needed a chance to relax and get lost in the silliness of a sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea. Between work, school, and everyday life stresses we started this particular trip with knots of tension that the little guys couldn’t relate to. We laughed it out through one dumb cartoon after another, whispering to each other, “I think I see why kids like this show. It’s so stupid but that’s what makes it hilarious.”

Now when my sons watch reruns of Spongebob I no longer cringe and mutter, “Oh no, not Spongebob. He is so annoying!” Instead it reminds me of that road trip when we rediscovered the power of laughter.

Sometimes we just need to laugh, even if it’s over something we would usually roll our eyes at. Even the Bible teaches that there is a time to laugh (see Ecclesiastes). Proverbs calls laughter good medicine. Laughter loosens our tension and gets our minds off all that is going wrong. It heals our sadness and melts anger.

Do you need to laugh today? Ask God to send a gift of humor your way today, even if it’s something really silly like an episode of Spongebob Squarepants.