Live. Laugh. Love. My daughter has a plaque that hangs in her room with this short but sweet daily reminder. Life goes better when you make it a point to live, laugh, and love.
I was reminded of the 3 L's as I began to read Barbara Dooley and Debbie Crowe's new book entitled Fourth and Inches: How to Win When Cancer is the Opponent. I was speaking with Barbara Dooley last week regarding CanCare and she sent me a copy of her book which provides inspirational insight into how to live our lives more fully.
She quotes the legendary North Carolina men's basketball coach Jimmy Valvano who shared his daily game plan when he received the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian award.
"To me there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day...that's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week; you're going to have something special."
Our Christian faith can lead us in a daily game plan that brings laughter, thought, and tears. Jesus' parables serve the same type of inspirational awakening found in Coach Valvano. I can hear the woman who lost a coin in her house when she finally found it laughing that deep belly chuckle that comes with rediscovery of finding what was lost. The very heart of parables is to cause us to stop and think how God acts in our world in ways that are mysterious and amazing. And you need to look no further than the story of the prodigal son to experience the tearful joy and happiness of reunion.
What will bring laughter into your life today? Maybe you need to think about that. I hope you will be moved to tears of joy. Have a full day my friends!
Prayer for Today
Great God, fill us with your spirit so that we will find delight in our day. Bring laughter to our souls and tears of joy to our hearts and remind us to use our minds so that we can witness the glory of your ways. Amen.
