But what about those times when we find it impossible to find the humor in life’s conflicts and crises? Years ago, a young woman from my church was awaiting a liver transplant. During the long wait, her mom, Paula May, devised a creative way to cope with the stress by inviting friends and hospital staffers to guess the day on which Lynsie would receive her new liver. It cost a dollar to enter the pool, and guesses were recorded on a big calendar. Granted, the humor bordered on the macabre, but appropriately so, during a time when we all felt so helpless and were fending off hopelessness with furtive prayers and gifts of food (what else could we offer at such a time?). I guessed April 23rd, my Mom’s birthday, and I won! Lynsie, hanging on by a hair’s breadth, received a new liver — from a young man who, sadly, lost his life. Joy and sorrow go hand in hand, never straying too far from one another. 

Paula is a Grace Happening person, if there ever was one. The pool was a prayer from all of our hearts, buoyed up by the Holy Spirit, via Paula’s humor.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Job 8:21

(Nature of Grace runs Saturdays. Linda Teeple of Anderson can be reached at lindyteep@yahoo.com.)