Encouragement

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Last Friday we started having trouble with our water well. Hubby came home early to start working on it. We worked on it all day Saturday. I started praying for water and then... came the rain. That was not exactly my intention when I was praying. I truly think God has a huge sense of humor.

Last night, my husband and I tag-team preached at church and there was an awful lot of laughter. I mean, the joy of the Lord was truly in that place. We preached on STRESS. Can you imagine how appropriate that was for us at the time? We still are having water well problems, I am jobless and now we need to finish working on the well today and it is still raining. My husband, the KING of keeping a good sense of humor, has been such a joy through all this. We have learned that if you can laugh in the midst of trial, you can make it through.

Medically, it has been proven that laughter is a great stress reliever. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones” The following stats were written by a doctor in Seattle.

Laughing 100 times =10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike. Laughter also:
Boosts the Immune System
Reduces Stress and Lowers Blood Pressure
Increases oxygenation of the blood, which assists healing
Gives your diaphragm, abdominal, and respiratory muscles a workout
Stimulates the release of beneficial brain neurotransmitters and hormones
Boosts levels of endorphins, body’s natural painkillers.

Anyone who has known me for a little while can figure out that I love to laugh. I don’t know if that means I have a lot of stress or a lot of joy! What I do know is that God is the giver of joy and He has imparted to me enough to keep my spirits up even when the rain keeps coming down. So, today I will keep reminding myself of this: No WHINING allowed!

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