While attending our annual beach retreat last year, I learned a valuable lesson that has truly blessed my life - Laughter is good for the soul. You see, a group of ladies and I that have known each other for years decided to stay up a little later than normal to just hang out, unwind and reflect on what we had learned. Little did we know that moment in time would change our lives forever. We laughed for hours, about silly things, serious situations, real life scenarios that each of us had brought before the Lord in prayer. We all left those kitchen bar stools refreshed and with sore stomach muscles that served as our reminder that all was well with our soul. We learned that life happens to us all and when you have a group of friends that you can share your experiences with, victory comes so much easier.
Four of us at those kitchen bar stools decided that we were not letting go of that moment in time. We made a pact that we would meet once a quarter to “laugh until our stomach muscles were sore”. Four different personalities - Four different seasons in our lives - Four different wives with four different husbands - Four different mothers and Four different career paths. We are all daughters of a loving God that heard the deepest cry of our hearts and answered. We decided to give each other 24 hours of our time and we gained so much from it. In our most recent meeting, I learned that I am not obligated to solve everyone's problems. Taking this treasure into 2020, I am so much more hopeful that I can accomplish all that God has created me to do in this season.
As our time together came to an end, one of my precious friends suggested that we take a picture with the eight ball. Eight represents "new beginnings". As I reflect on our fun time together, I realized that this weekend helped each of us go deep within ourselves to grab the tenacity it will take to walk ALL the way through our “new beginnings”. My prayer today, is that each of you will find “your people” and “your place of meeting”, carve out some time to dip into the well and draw out the laughter that will refresh your souls.
Wishing you a joyful, merry heart!
Mamma Mary
A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
“Laughter activates the body’s natural relaxation response. It’s like internal jogging, providing a good massage to all internal organs while also toning abdominal muscles”... Dr. Gulshan Sethi.
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