Norah, Josiah and Anna at the Aquarium

Jack and his buddy, the very famous Sam Warren. You can see more amazing pics of that little dude by clicking here.

Our Favorite Jokes

The next time you start to complain about your situation, stop for a second and ask yourself this: “Hey self, are you currently wearing a big, fat, wooden yoke on your neck?” Then correctly answer yourself by saying, “No, I don’t believe I am.” Then ask yourself this: “Hey again self, are you currently in the dark, down in a cistern, standing up to your neck in mud, unable to recline or rest at all?” Then once again, correctly answer yourself by saying, “No, come to think of it, I am not.”

Lately I have been reading the book of Jeremiah. At times it has been confusing and at times it has been exhausting. Mainly though, it’s just been sad. It’s been sad to watch this lonely guy crying out to his people and begging them to understand the terrible things that are about to happen to them and their families and their homes and their country. It’s been sad watching him beg people to listen to the fact that they have brought this on themselves. It’s been sad to watch them all ignore him and hate him and turn away from his repeated and desperate warnings. It’s been sad to watch the heart of God break over and over again from the neglect and disobedience of His people.

As I read yesterday, the Lord told Jeremiah to put a big yoke around his neck and wear it around town as if he were some kind of farm animal. It was a plea… God’s way to try and connect with those of us who are more visual learners. They didn’t heed the lesson. This dude named Hananiah grabbed the yoke, smashed it and told Jeremiah to shut up. Today I read about how the Lord told Jeremiah to get a guy to write all the warnings down and instead of getting the point, the king cut the paper up line by line and tossed it into the fire. Then they took Jeremiah and basically threw him down in a sewer where he was covered in mud. Wow… talk about a rough day!

We’ve felt a little underneath it all recently… that is, there have been a lot of trials and troubles going on. We’ve had lots of car problems, identity theft, no heat, trees falling on the house and one sick kid after another. It’s easy to complain. It’s easy to get really, really frustrated and feel completely vindicated; but Jeremiah taught me something awesome today that’s helping me to take it in stride. You see, Jeremiah hasn’t had a bad day in over 2,500 years! He has been laughing, singing, resting and feasting for two and half millennia! He probably looks back at that cistern and laughs… he probably thinks back to that ridiculous yoke and cracks up. It’s probably his favorite joke.

In Romans 8 Paul said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us.” And look, that is not some wishful thinking to get you to sleep at night… it’s true. There really is a life coming where all of these things we suffer now will do more than disappear… they’ll make us laugh. They’ll be our favorite jokes.