by: Hannah Dearth
When was the last time you peed your pants?
No seriously. Like even just a little?
It’s probably easier to do if you’ve had kids, just sayin’. Like don’t even sneeze too hard. TMI?
But anyway, the actual question that I’m getting at is, when is the last time you really laughed? Like not a chuckle, or a giggle, but a big, cheeks hurting from smiling, tears rolling down your face, crossing your legs so you don’t pee kind of laugh?
We purchased an Echo Dot for Christmas as a family gift. We created a rule that my 4 year old son is not allowed to use it without an adult. The other afternoon, I ran upstairs to put the littlest to nap and came down after less than five minutes and he had rapid fired “Alexa” AT LEAST 20 questions. Most of these questions were asking her to tell him jokes, or poems, or asking about who she is and what she likes to do (because she’s alive?).
I could hear the sound of his laughter as it trailed up the stairwell. Big. Loud. Free. So free that I couldn’t help from laugh, just from hearing him laugh!
It seems like the older we get, the further apart these laughs get, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way. I would say for me, maybe a couple of weeks have gone by since I laughed THAT hard. And you know what?
I won’t stand for that anymore.
I want joy contagiously spilling out of my soul. And God wants that for us too. Even when life is tough, unbearably tough and heavy to carry, I want to lay it down and give it to Him. I want to find moments that are light and breezy and beautiful.
They’re there. Just tell any preschool boy a “poop poem”. Or, maybe don’t do that.
But either way, I’m determined to fill this year with more nearly peeing my pants laughter. Starting now, I’m going to focus a little more on the Source and the joy that only He can give. The kind He compares to being like little children (and I imagine part of this comparison is because of just that- their simple, untamed laughter).
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