Saturday, July 18, 2009

Laughter & Tears Heal Broken Hearts


A "Time To Laugh" comedy group premiered last night to a small crowd of mentors, leaders and residents of transitional housing for exoffenders. Having had only a few rehearsals I was preparing myself for a "fall on your face" with grace moment. All week I knew if God didn't work a miracle through us we could be "trying" to be funny and just look stupid.

They laughed from the beginning to the end. They laughed at things that weren't funny....I mean not to us. On the set we caught ourselves wanting to say....no, you laugh in a moment. There was a connection with these beautiful seekers beyond my writing skill to describe. Our title was HALT: don't get
  • too hungry
  • too angry
  • too lonely
  • too tired
It's an old addiction prompter to keep from triggering your cravings for a fix. We tied it into any behavior that is less than God's best for believers.

We actors are children born in trauma (my term for dysfunctional home). Ryan, Stacie and Laura are siblings and their dad was addicted to drugs and drinking as my dad was. Both men acted out in drunken raging violence on their wives. Our stories take different routes, but as survivors we've had similar struggles. God has mercifully delivered us from our pain and He has used the very pains to develop unusual strengths in each of us.

We concluded with Ryan giving his unbelievable capture when he was addicted to drugs. Mouths gaped open and the Lord moved on that crowd so beautifully. We concluded with a time to honor all fathers; to forgive and to receive forgiveness. All were blessed, but the mentors, pastors, and leaders were the ones weeping the most in the end. God had his way and weights were dropped off of His saints to free them to "run the race!"

Again......thank you for your prayers: they laughed!!!!



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© 2008 Kay Martin

Thrive In Christ

Who I Am In Christ by Neil Anderson

For several months we will center on this book to pursue Thriving in our Christian journey.

Neil challenges us with: "Do you know who you are in God's eyes? We are no longer products of our past. We are primarily products of Christ's work on the cross. Who we are determines what we do.

You are not who you are in Christ because of the things you have done, you are in Christ because of what He has done. He died and rose again so that you and I could live in the FREEDOM of His love."

That's just the introduction. More to follow.