Family and Parenting Jewels
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."(Genesis 21:5-7)
Today’s devotion on the Mockingbird App* was about Sarah’s laughter at having a child in her old age, just as God promised. She had formerly laughed out of disbelief when she heard the plan. God’s plans really are laughable at times because it is so unlike how we would do it. Laughter is a natural reaction to grace, which appears so wonderfully unexpected. That’s usually what makes us laugh, right? When something unexpected happens? We do not expect people to have a child at the age of 100, and so when it actually happens we laugh.
This topic was fitting for the morning I had. God graced us with laughter at a much needed time. Since the winter break, my kindergartner has been using every ounce of energy holding it together at school, and so when she gets home to a familiar space, screaming is her choice of communication for most situations. It makes everyone feel tense. My 3rd grader decided that everything at school (including recess, music class, art, etc.) is either frustrating or boring. So getting him ready for a day of school can be a little difficult.
Before I go on with the story from this morning, I have to give you a little backstory. I purchased a new car this past summer, and every time I plug my phone into the car, my iTunes automatically opens up and every single time plays the same song: About a Burning Fire, by Blindside. To understand the humor in this, you have to listen to at least the first 10 seconds of this song…
So anyway, back to this morning. As emotions were running high, we amazingly made it into the car. I told them we could listen to a couple of songs on the way to school because sometimes music helps everyone feel happy. That turned into an argument about whose song would be played last because they both wanted to be left with their own song in their head. As my eyes began to roll, I led them in an exercise of conflict management. We talked about the problem and possible solutions, etc. We finally came up with an acceptable solution to everyone, which was to pick a song that everyone liked (everyone, meaning every one of the kids). They decided on the theme song from Sonic X. I was able to play it right as we pulled into the parking lot at school. As we listened to the short song, we crept along at a snail’s pace behind a line of cars, waiting for our turn to pull up to the curb. Again, in order to see the humor in this, you should really listen to some of the song:
We finished the song at the perfect time and laughed about how “not fast” we were moving! The two school kids hopped out of the car leaving the toddler alone in the car. As I gave them hugs goodbye, suddenly out of nowhere, About a Burning Fire started blasting in the car. I have come to expect that song to play right when I plug in the chord and usually remember to hit pause in time, but why it decided to play at that moment I have no idea! The kids walked to their lines with laughter still on their lips...
Thank God for the unexpected which makes us laugh and brings relief to our tired and worried souls!
*search “The Mockingapp” in your app store and download for free if you want to access the latest blog entries, devotions, and podcasts