Gratitude Day 248

Thurs., Apr. 11, 2019

Genesis 21:6 – Sarah said, “God has given me laughter. Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”

God certainly has a great sense of humor.

We experienced all four seasons in Wisconsin in less than 72 hours. Monday was in the 70’s; the first day we’ve experienced lovely temperatures like this in about six months. A wee bit of summer.

On Tuesday, it was in the low 60’s. A beautiful spring day. We’ve been waiting for these tiny purple flowers that carpet our backyard to grace our presence once again. They burst forth on Tuesday and they were simply beautiful!

Wednesday, it snowed. Really snowed. Heavy globs of snow came down in clumps. In 30 minutes, those precious little purple flowers were shivering and looking for coats and wondering who screwed up the seasons.

As we trudged through the wet and shivered because we probably didn’t wear a warm enough jacket (in spite of the forecaster’s predictions), we silently cursed.

Meanwhile, God laughed. A big belly laugh that thundered through the skies as we wondered who forgot to look at the calendar and see that spring officially began a few weeks back.

Baseball games and softball games and track meets will be canceled this week. Tractors stationed at the edge of sheds, just waiting to be driven to the field, will patiently wait. Bags of rubbish raked last weekend are now one cold, soggy mess.

And God continues to chuckle as we wave fists towards heaven and question God’s sanity.

Haven’t we had enough winter? Can’t we catch a break? The words “global warming” are tossed around again this week for the millionth time; words we’re growing leery of hearing as well as speaking.

By now, God must be laughing so hard at us, tears are clearly rolling down God’s checks.

Meanwhile, we are dumbfounded. I hear a branch crack and fall to the ground from the pine tree just outside my window. The weight of the snow affects one more thing this winter. A picture of social media showed snow hanging on the clothes line, as of it were real clothes. We’ve run out of words, expressions and adages.

Once again, I imagine God taking a Kleenex and wiping away the tears, as God looks at us and laughs.

Is this how Sarah felt? She was an old lady. She should have been a grandma by this stage of her life. Instead, she’s resigned to the fact that a child is out of the question. Daily, she lives with other Jewish woman whose lives revolve around their children and their children’s children. Sarah has no explanation why she was denied offspring. As Husband Abraham was no spring chicken either, they can’t imagine a baby coming into their lives now. When God shares with Abraham that soon, his wife Sarah will have a baby, he can’t wrap his head around it.

Sarah overhears the conversation and just laughs. What else can this grey-haired woman do? She? Have a baby? Right.

In the end, it’s God who has the last laugh. It’s God how oversees a complex plan in which Sarah actually bears a child, much to her and Abraham’s amazement. And yes, Abraham’s offspring eventually outnumber the stars in the sky.

God’s sense of humor is not often the first attribute we think of when we think of God. Just in case we needed a reminder, it came down in sheets of snow today.

And who says, “God doesn’t have a sense of humor?”

For humor that should never cease to amaze us, I am grateful.

Lord God – in case we needed a reminder of Your sense of humor, I think we got the message today. Once again, may we be amazed with how unique and different Your perspective is. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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