Carpool. Dinner. Laundry. Baths.
Volleyball. Soccer. Business trips. Deadlines.
Church, school, groceries, permission slips.
Selling cookie dough for the club fundraiser—aaaack!!!
These are the everyday responsibilities of a parent. And we CRUSH it, sisters. We are awesome multitaskers. Take a second to give yourself a huge kiss on the hand because you are the queen of your domain.
And then. Huddle up and listen close. Please hear me when I tell you—my heart is filled with love. For you, for our families, for Jesus. And sometimes love means kicking a girl in the pants… gently.
I’m kicking myself here, right beside you, my friend.
Thing is, we have a problem. Our grown up, parental responsibilities are good; they’re God-honoring. He gives us work to do and He wants us to steward it well. But the work? The scheduling and running and cooking and homework helping? It’s not EVERYTHING.
Truth is, when we get stuck in the rut of managing the family, we can easily forget to see the family.
Then we lose sight of one important ingredient in a happy family life.
Laughter.
I know this firsthand.
A few months ago, my husband stood in the kitchen and looked at me and asked:
When was the last time we laughed?
Uhhhh.
Laughed?
As in, funny haha, I-just-love-being-with-you kind of laughed?
I couldn’t remember.
We were operating our household on task, keeping everybody fed and off to school and practice and tournaments on time, thank you very much.
But I’m not sure the people were having any fun.
How sad is that?
In my book, The Cranky Mom Fix, I devote an entire section to the importance of being a FUN family. FUN is an acronym that stands for (1) be Forgiving, (2) create Unexpected adventures, and (3) Nurture your child’s interests. I firmly believe that fun is related to joy, which is part of being holy. So Christian families shouldn’t be afraid of fun—they should be leading the way! We ought to be the most joy-filled households on the planet!
So why aren’t we?
Are the tasks of life getting in the way of enjoying life?
Here’s one simple tip to start shifting the tone of your household.
Do something funny.
Tell a joke. Bust out dancing. Play a goofy video. Have a staring contest. For heaven’s sake, just laugh! Show the kids that life is about more than rules and schedules and accomplishments. We moms can surely benefit from a good belly chuckle, too, I tell ya. We take ourselves too seriously sometimes, don’t we?
The Bible says God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). He gave us our families, our jobs, our responsibilities—not just to manage them, but to find joy in them, too. So let’s start taking Him up on His offer. Do it today. Laugh, be encouraged, and remember how very much God desires for you to enjoy His blessings. He is so good to us, amen? Sometimes it takes a peal of snorting laughter to remember that core truth.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24, ESV)
Blessings,
Becky
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