Laughter - BE HAVE!

Marisa's Laughter Page

Wednesday nights are usually busy for me. I am a GA leader. Now for those of you who are not Southern Baptists (and maybe a few of you who are!), GA stands for Girls in Action. I know, you're still wondering what this means. Girls in Action, GA's for short, is a Woman's Missionary Union program for girls in grades 1-6 to learn about missionaries and ways to share God's love. Wednesday is SUPPOSED to be my day off, but it doesn't always work that way, with c0-workers on vacation, in classes, etc. So, most Wednesdays are pretty full.

One recent Wednesday night was particularly stressful. It was the first Wednesday after the start of school. The natives were restless. One girl was positively WILD. She started by hiding from me. Perhaps I should've let her stay hidden through the entire hour! Hee hee, yeah, right. . .After that she ran through the upstairs hallway, so that the adults meeting beneath us must've thought the roof would cave in. At the end of class she turned off the lights as we all headed downstairs. As if that weren't enough, she then SCREAMED at the top of her lungs!

I was ready to jump out a window and attempt to fly away.

When I was a little girl, I was very active in the GA's at my church. I don't remember tormenting my GA leader, but then again, I was a kid and what I thought was cool might've been torment for a thirty-something lady like my GA leader!

I do remember that my parents expected me to ''mind.'' Is this a term that's used throughout the country, or just in the South? It sounds Southern to me. It's kind of like ''behave.'' Only in Tennessee we pronounce that word ''BEE HAYVE!'' with equal emphasis on both syllables. I thought being ''hayve'' was another term for being good! I guess I was in school before I learned that behave was ONE word instead of two.

Going back to that stressful Wednesday night. . .when I finally got home, it was almost time for my kids to go to bed. As is often the case, my six-year-old son rebelled at bedtime. ''But Mo-o-om!'' he whined, ''I can't turn off this Nintendo game! I can't lie in her (his sister's) floor with you during reading time! I can't wear those pajamas!'' It was one constant whine, with intermittent tears.

At that point I looked up toward Heaven and said, ''God, why did you put me in so many situations where I have to be in a leadership position, if I can't make anybody mind me????''

Then it occurred to me. . .maybe He wants me to see how He feels. I mean, He is in the ultimate leadership position! There is a REASON some people refer to control freaks as having a ''God complex.'' I mean, He is REALLY in control!

BUT. . .

One thing He doesn't control is our behavior. He gives us self-control, but how often do we use it?

I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't use mine the way I should, but somehow, I doubt it.

He is definitely the Leader of the entire universe, and yet how many times He must feel like we're just a bunch of heathens who won't mind Him! I felt humbled, but I also felt a bit of relief. Surely God knew what He was doing when He put me in leadership positions.

I still can't make those kids mind, though! I just have to convince them that minding me is for their own good. That's a lot easier when I'm at home, where I can say, ''If you don't mind me you're not playing the Nintendo all weekend!''

Okay, so it wasn't REAL funny. But bear with me! It's my first humor column!

In the future, in this very spot, there will be links to other archived pages! For now, you've only got this one to read, and it will have to do!