What's in a name?

We're doing an amazing thing with our children's choir this semester at church. Each semester we spend the time preparing for either our Christmas musical or our Spring musical. Our Christmas programs each year are awesome but the kids always seem to enjoy the spring musical a little more. (Doesn't everyone enjoy things more in the spring?! haha) Anyway, this spring we're doing "eXtreme Praise" and singing several of my favorites with the kids. "Shackles", "In the Sanctuary", "Adonai", "I Lift Up My Hands", "How Great is Our God". Just to name a few. Let me just tell you that there is nothing more precious than seeing 100 or so kids singing "How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God and all will see..." You get the idea. PRECIOUS I TELL YA!!

So we're also teaching them the names of God. Elohim, El Elyon, El Shaddai, Jehovah-jireh, Adonia, Yahweh, (man my spellcheck is going crazy over these! haha) just to name a few and they also have to memorize corresponding Scriptures with those names. They get a sticker each week for the verse and all the kids who have their stickers get to attend a skating party. FUN. Anyway, we also have a book that tells them the spiritual meaning of their name and a corresponding Scripture with it. I looked up my name in the book and it meant strength - which I already knew (not because I'm exceptionally strong, but I had seen it before) but then the verse associated with my name was Ecc 3:1. Now, I knew I recognized the reference, but couldn't pull the verse out of the cobwebs in my brain. When I got home I looked it up and here we go...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Ecc 3:1

I know. You're just as disappointed as I was! haha Of course I immediately go "Turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born a time to die..." You know the song, come on admit it. You did the same thing. ;-) So anyway, as I looked thru the "time for"'s guess what I saw? "a time to weep and a time to laugh"!!! DON'T YOU LOVE THAT?! I just talked about it being time for a laugh and then God goes and shows off like that! Sending me on a round about way straight to His Word for me!! LOVE IT!!!

I'm sure most of you saw Lysa's blog about Sumi yesterday. WOW. What an amazing woman. Definitely not the time of laughter for this family. However, as I sat in tears reading her story, I was completely surrounded by the Lord's Presence and could feel Him telling me "See, even in the midst of such trauma, there is laughter". You'll have to pop over and read her story to hear her tell of her little boys finding laughter. Anyway, Sumi, your family is in my prayers and I pray the robin's song will bring a smile to your face!

So today I pray that you will find laughter all around you. Find it in your kids, in your man, in your family, in your friends. If it's not the time for laughter in their lives then just be there for them, maybe even BE a source of laughter for them. Like I said yesterday, if you can't find anything worth laughing about, let me know. Better yet, turn to the Word. There's plenty of things in there the Lord can just crack you up with! He's so good y'all! Laugh OFTEN!!!