Today was a rough one. But laughter won out!

In all sincerity, the last 48 hours have been tough.  I'm prepared for ups and downs at this point, so I'm not letting "being down" get me down.  Know what I mean?

Today, in the midst of my funk, glory be to God, I pulled my head out of the ground long enough to do the following:

-Be thankful and express thanks to a family member who took valuable time (many hours!) to come spend time with me, go to Home Depot with me, and to do some repair work in my house.  A few days ago, I opened up my daughter's ceiling fan light fixture to replace the light bulb, and I discovered exposed melted wires, lying directly on burned out light bulbs.  Wow.  So today I choose gratitude for the fact that our home didn't burn down, and that my family member took time out to come replace the entire fixture.  (Bonus! The new fan is much prettier than the old one!)  But even more than the household help, I am grateful for the company and love that my family member showed me today.  I needed the companionship, and Jesus provided.

-In a moment of enjoying my two year old laugh, I chose to join her in pretending to lick the table like a "puppy dog."  Just this simple act of silliness brought forth laughter from me that was sorely needed.  Although at first I didn't feel like being silly, I immediately felt better!

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-Later (having uncorked my bottle of laughter) I found myself laughing until a tear rolled down my cheek when I showed off the ugliest ever light fixture (headed for the trash) that I had recently replaced myself.  As I looked at it, and watched my family member's reaction, I realized just how hideous it really was.  This allowed me to LOL at the fact that I'd lived with it over my front door for nearly four years.

So, on a day when I really didn't feel like enjoying laughter or feeling gratitude, God gave me a couple of chances, and I dove in head first.  Thank you, God for the strength.  Give me more for the days to come.  I'm feeling better for it already ;-)