Laughter In the Walls

After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what is our proud reward and crown? It is you! Yes, you will bring us much joy as we stand together before our Lord Jesus when he comes back again. For you are our pride and joy. 1 Thess. 2:19-20

One of the great joys of my life has been being a friend and pastor to the people of New Hope. Over the last seven years, we've experienced a lot of life together. We've shared times of great joy and great sadness together, and through them learned a lot about our shared love for Jesus, and built a love for one another.

A group of us were exploring Exodus last night, learning about the Tabernacle God designed as a place for him to live. It was to be of the finest materials, constructed by the most skilled craftsmen. Nothing ever before or since has rivaled this. In the midst of thousands of tents that the Jewish people lived in, the Tabernacle stood out. It was different. It was purposefully made to reflect the character of God.

In trying to help that idea stick last night, I asked everyone to think about the ways that our homes reflected our character, whether intentional or not. We all laughed thinking about how the things we accumulated told stories about us. I then explained that since we moved recently, we had to shed an awful lot of things, and Bunny has taken the opportunity to try to reduce our natural tendency to over clutter. Our home is sparsely furnished compared to before, so much so that I sometimes referred to it as a "condo". Then I told them that I was having trouble with the change because (as the chief clutter architect) I cannot find any of my character represented here in the decorations. "You know", I said, laughing, "no pictures of Robert E Lee, no model cars, not even an animatronic bass hanging over the fireplace." Everyone shared some laughter at my expense, and then we moved on.

Well, this morning, when I went out to get the paper, it was on top of the hood of my car, along with.... "Big Mouth Billy Bass", a fine representative of robot fishdom.

These people are nuts! And my neighbors now think I am, because I was laughing my head off in my yard at 6:30 this morning.

But being in the company of people who love so extravagantly, and who can fill the church with laughter as well as pray with tears, is a real honor and joy.

Oh, and Big Mouth Billy Bass can be seen at any time you come to our garage. LOL

Grace!

David