Category: laughter

Mar 31

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Funny Bone

 

Image by Andrea Barstow from Pixabay

There’s nothing funny about cancer. But after my diagnosis in 1990, I figured laughter could be good medicine for our family.

Upon learning that my chemo pill actually was a worming medicine designed to kill intestinal parasites in sheep and dogs, I would pop one in my mouth and start barking and chasing my squealing daughters around the house. My husband mentioned to our friends that I had been de-wormed and he was thinking of getting me a rabies shot too. The pills were expensive and he often suggested we call our cat’s vet to try and get them cheaper. (A regular comedian, huh?)

My support groups had a reputation for lots of laughing. And every time we laughed together, it reminded us we still were alive . . . and that always was worth celebrating!

Image by Andrea Barstow from Pixabay

If you don’t have a laughing support group (or a comedian husband!),  Dave Dravecky’s Outreach of Hope (now https://www.endurance.org)  years ago published five suggestions to “strengthen your funny bone:”

  1. Start your own comedy collection of jokes and cartoons. Do an Internet search for “clean jokes” and you’ll find some good laughs. Post them at your desk or on your fridge so you can remind yourself to smile. (Do you know how to make Michigan cookies? Put them in a bowl and beat them for three hours!–OK maybe that’s only funny if you’re a Buckeye like me!)
  2. Get your groceries and get a chuckle by reading some of the tabloid headlines while standing in line. (I just read about aliens with anorexia and manure as a miracle cure for arthritis! Of course, when I purchase these magazines they are business expenses because I share the stories in my laughter talk  🙂 )
  3. Browse greeting-card racks and enjoy reading funny cards. You can even buy one to brighten someone’s day! (One day at work I received a card which read: “I bet I can still float your boat…even if I don’t have both oars in the water!” It was from my wonderful husband to cheer me up.)
  4. Become a humorous people groupie by hanging out with funny people. (You know who you are…you’re either a funny friend or you need one!)
  5. Make the most of embarrassing moments. (Did I tell you about the time a pair of my underwear dropped out of my jeans’ pant leg onto the floor of a Christian bookstore?……….Never mind.)

Pastor Rick Warren

In his NY Times bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren writes that our first purpose in life is to please God. Or as Warren puts it, “The smile of God is the goal of your life.”

No matter what you’ve gone through or what still lies ahead—whether you have no cancer, a little cancer or a lot of cancer; whether your trial disappears, grows more intense or perhaps never leaves—will you choose choose to please God and bring a smile to His face? It is your choice.

I have a blessing for you from Numbers 6:24-26 today:

May the Lord bless you  and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor
and give you His peace.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Be sure to open in your browser to hear “The Blessing” from Bethel Music. You may even want to close your eyes and hear this as a prayer for you.

 

Feb 20

Laughter IS Good Medicine!



It’s been said that “Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper—it doesn’t permanently solve any problems, but it sure does make things more acceptable for a while.”

When was the last time you had a good laugh? (Maybe it was when your hubby and your granddaughter ate seriously blue birthday cake frosting!)

We haven’t had a lot to chuckle about during the past several months. (There’s really nothing funny about four surgeries, a knee infection, six weeks of IV antibiotics, Lyme disease, a broken wrist, a nerve injury, cardiac issues, and never-ending rehab.) But every time we do laugh, it reminds us we’re still alive and that feels really good. In fact I believe that we all need to keep—or—get a sense of humor even in the shadow of  life trials.

Laughter is good for the body. Science is just figuring that out, but the Bible told us that a long time ago.

Proverbs 15:30 says:
“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news makes for good health.”

Proverbs 17:22 reiterates the point:
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

For some people, the ability to laugh comes easily, but for others—especially those going through health issues or emotional struggles—it takes a more effort. If your funny bone could use some strengthening today, here are some suggestions from Endurance with Jan & Dave Dravecky and from me:

  1. Start your own comedy collection of jokes and cartoons. (Do an Internet search for “clean jokes” or read the newspaper and you’ll find some funny cartoons. Post them at your desk or on your fridge so you can remind yourself to laugh.)
  2. Get your groceries and a chuckle by reading some of the tabloid headlines while standing in line. (Pick a long line so you’ll have time to read about things like aliens with anorexia and manure as a miracle cure for arthritis! Of course these papers are a business expense for me as I use the stories in my “laughter” talk 🙂 )
  3. Hang out at greeting card racks and enjoy reading funny cards. (You’ll get a kick out of them yourself and you also can buy one and send it to someone who hasn’t had anything to laugh about for a while.)
  4. Become a humorous people “groupie” by hanging out with funny people. (Either you’re a funny friend or you need one!) 
  5. Make the most of embarrassing moments. (Share your foibles with a trusted friend and have a good laugh together about the time your wig blew off your bald-from-chemo head or you accidentally dropped a pair of your underwear in the Christian bookstore…don’t even ask!)
  6. Listen to Christian comedians on YouTube. (I highly recommend John Crist and Tim Hawkins, both of whom have a delightfully irreverent sense of humor and help us poke fun at ourselves.)

    Laughter is healing medicine, so please take a full prescription of it!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This little girl in the music video below (be sure to view in your browser) really feels the words of this song: “There ain’t nothin’ gonna steal my joy!”

Nov 01

Cancer Can’t Stop Her Joy!

 

Bunnie Gasperini's Profile Photo, Image may contain: 1 person

My friend Bunnie is a redheaded, retired heavy equipment operator with a delightful New England accent who loves to laugh. On weekends she “clowns” around at the local Dairy Queen as she whips up balloons and smiles for children, while sharing God’s love for them. On weekdays she takes off her clown make-up and cooks hot meals which she joyfully delivers to the homeless folks in a nearby neighborhood.

Did I mention that she has stage 4 tongue cancer, carries her portable oxygen tank everywhere and is on hospice?

“I’m a bulldog for the Lord!” she explains.

“When I make dog balloons for the children, I tell them ‘God wants us to be like dogs’—a dog is loving, faithful, obedient and always happy to see us!”

And with the tenacity of a bulldog, Bunnie has refused to allow a cancer diagnosis and multiple recurrences to change her goal of sharing the joy of Jesus with anyone she meets. Here’s a little of her inspiring story from my new book Peace in the Face of Cancer.

 

When Bunnie moved to Florida in 2011, she wondered what she would do in her post-retirement life.

“I was laughing so much, I dreamt I should be a clown,” she recalls with a chuckle. On a whim she searched online for “clown schools” and found there was one only two hours from her new home. She took the courses, and since 2012 she has been a professional clown and member of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians.

She began volunteering at her local Dairy Queen, where she performed magic tricks and twisted balloons into animal shapes. While the children enjoyed their ice cream, she shared character-building stories and told them about God’s love for them.

But in August 2013 the shows stopped when Bunnie was diagnosed with inoperable tongue cancer. Doctors told her that without chemo and radiation, she probably had six months to live. She was devastated with that prognosis, but resolute in her faith: “You can even take my tongue, and I’ll still find a way to share the gospel,” she announced to her doctor.

Bunnie had thirty-five radiation and eight chemo treatments. After a two-week hiatus, she was back whipping up balloons and smiles at Dairy Queen.

When she read a copy of my first book, When God & Cancer Meet, Bunnie felt as if God were telling her to share her story by giving away copies of the book. (Why doesn’t He tell everyone to do that?J)

So she bought dozens of books and gave them away to cancer patients and their families at the cancer center. But in May 2015 a scan showed the cancer had spread to her lungs.

“I was really, really devastated for a little while—for maybe an hour or something,” she told me, chuckling on the phone, after we became Facebook friends. “The Lord said, ‘You’re still here for Me and I’m going to use you right here at the cancer center.’”

She headed back there for more treatment, armed with more books.

Her methods might be a little unorthodox, but they produced her desired results.

“I went to the chemo waiting room with twenty-six books,” she explains. “I stood up and said, ‘Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but two years ago I was right where you are, and the Lord gave me peace and brought me through. And my friend gave me a book that strengthened me so much.’”

Then she held up a copy of the book and announced, “If you’d like a free copy, just raise your hand.”

Within a few seconds nearly every book was taken, and that’s what happened every time she spoke.

 

I promise you that my purpose in sharing Bunnie’s story is not to draw attention to her giving away, by her count, 425 copies of my first book—as grateful as I am for that! What I want to highlight is her generous and bold spirit as she has learned not just to battle cancer, but to dance with it.

Think about it. She has every reason to be bitter—a devastating cancer diagnosis in a new state with no family nearby, just when she was ready to relax and enjoy retirement. Cancer of the tongue when she loves to talk fast and laugh often.

But Bunnie knows what I hope you do too—that your purpose in life never changes. It is the same whether you or your loved one has a lot of cancer, a little cancer, or even no cancer. Your purpose in life—and mine—is to know God and love Him more, and to help others know God and love Him more.

Bunnie says her life verse is the same one I have chosen in my retirement: “My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the task assigned to me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” (Acts 20:24 NLT)

As long as you have breath (even if it’s from an oxygen tank!), God is not finished with you.

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,

and he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground

and steadied me as I walked along.

He has given me a new song to sing,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Please enjoy this music video with Jason Davis, the pastor who lost part of his tongue to cancer singing his original song “These Walls.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_m8wqg3us

 

Oct 05

“SERENITY NOW!!!”

 

 

 

 

 

The world is so stressful right now, I thought I would post a little humor coupled with a little encouragement today.  Enjoy the hilarious Seinfeld clip, the challenging “revised” Serenity Prayer, the inspiring original version, the peaceful Serenity Prayer Project music video and experience some “Serenity Now!”

The Original Prayer as written by Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971
American theologian, pastor & political commentator

God, give us grace to accept with serenity 
the things that cannot be changed, 
Courage to change the things 
which should be changed, 
and the Wisdom to distinguish 
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, 
Enjoying one moment at a time, 
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, 
Taking, as Jesus did, 
This sinful world as it is, 
Not as I would have it, 
Trusting that You will make all things right, 
If I surrender to Your will, 
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, 
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

 

Sep 13

A Cheerful Heart Causes Good Healing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Done any “internal jogging” lately?

That’s the phrase some researchers use to describe the therapeutic benefit of laughter because it increases our heart rate much like physical exercise does. I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of “yucking” it up much better than the notion of taking a run.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer as a young wife and mother, I honestly wondered if I would ever really laugh again. Life felt so very serious and it was hard to imagine having a really good belly laugh over anything.

That’s why when I came home from the hospital; I sent my husband directly to the video store (remember them?) to get me every “Pink Panther” movie he could find. You may not enjoy Peter Seller’s slapstick comedy as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, but I always have found it impossible to watch and not laugh.

So I watched them all. I laughed through them all. And it was very good medicine.

Now I am not one who believes laughter always can cure what ails you, but I definitely believe the proverb that tells us “a cheerful heart is good medicine.” My Bible footnotes say the literal translation is “a cheerful heart causes good healing.”

It is a real understatement to say that cancer (or any other serious illness) isn’t very funny. But it’s not an overstatement to say that we can find joy and even laughter in the midst of theses trials. You have to look for it and sometimes you have to even create it for yourself (go ahead and rent some funny movies!).

If you can’t think of anything funny or a reason to be cheerful, try this one from Psalm 118:24: This is the day the LORD has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Every day is a gift from God. The fact that you are alive is reason enough to rejoice. You can show love and be loved. No matter what else happens–or doesn’t happen–go ahead and be glad in today. It will be good medicine. And here’s a prayer you may want to pray today (based on Nehemiah 8:10 and Numbers 6:24-26):

Lord, I pray that You will give me a cheerful heart, in spite of all I’ve gone through and all that still is ahead. I know I don’t have to just smile, pretend I’m happy and that everything is all right. But I do want to feel Your quiet joy in me and even hear laughter from my lips. I want to remember that there is life after and even with a serious illness.

Please help me to heed Nehemiah’s words not to be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is my strength. And Holy Spirit, please develop in me the fruit of joy—a joy that’s not based on my circumstances, but on my relationship with my Father. Let it be a joy that is simply grateful for the gift of another day to love and be loved.

I pray, Lord, that You will bless me and protect me. That You will smile on me and be gracious to me. And that You will show me Your favor and give me Your peace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Today’s Tip: Remember it’s impossible to tickle yourself, so get some help to tickle your funny bone—watch a comedy, browse a store’s humorous greeting card section or hang out with a funny friend. Laughter, like yawning is contagious! (Check out today’s “Laughing Song”–no amazing lyrics, just puppets yucking it up 🙂 )

(This blog is adapted from a devotional I had published in the book Praying through Cancer:Set Your Heart Free from Fear, copyright 2006 Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist, W Publishing Co., a division of Thomas Nelson Inc.)

(If the music video doesn’t automatically load, please copy, paste and insert this link to enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5V-I5Wy334&list=RDq5V-I5Wy334#t=1 )