I'm beginning to hear God's laughter!

When I padded to my kitchen rocker this morning, I sat talking to the Lord about the latest real estate investment crisis and He stopped me short with his laughter. Yes, I heard God laughing. . . in my mind and heart anyway, but it couldn't have been more real. He came up to me, threw His arms around me, tossed His head back, and with eyes twinkling, full of merriment, released a warm current of laughter. Comforting, not cynical.

Later, in my office, I couldn't journal the experience fast enough. My main point to ponder:

"And then God laughed, not to minimize my pain, but to bring perspective to it, in light of eternity."

He reminded me of the Genesis 17 account of Sarah's cynical laughter over the possibility of a pregnancy in her old age. I wonder now if there wasn't a hint of a giggle under God's breath even then. He knew the hilarious, joyful laughter that was to come in Isaac (literally meaning, "He will laugh"). In Genesis 21:6, after Isaac's birth, Sarah says for all posterity, "God has made laughter for me, everyone who hears will laugh with me."

The question the Lord posed to my heart in the early hours of the morn was, "Can you laugh even before you see the provision concerning the properties?"

And then I noted the ways He has already provided:

1. All our needs met today, and so much more!
2. Grace for the moment in this roller-coaster ride of "now we have a buyer, now we don't."
3. A greater dependence on the Lord as my Husband (Isaiah 54:5).
4. A closer relationship with Chuck.
5. Liberty modules

Then I turned to an Oswald Chamber devotional entry in My Utmost for His Highest, and the last line read: "The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God."

Okay, Lord, I'm smiling.

A few months before Rachel left for India as a single missionary gal in 2004, I had a dream. My little red-headed toddler was running across the lawn straight for the busy road. Cars were zooming this way and that. I ran after her, arms stretched out, reaching, grabbing desperately, but as is often the case in a dream, I could never quite get to her. At last, she plunged into the street. I knew for sure my precious baby would be hit and killed, but when the traffic cleared, I saw a lovely Indian woman clad in colorful sari on the other side of the road stooping and holding my little Rachel. She was safe.

As God would have it, there have been many Indian "mamas" over the last few years who have taken Rachel under their wings. In addition, the Lord provided my girl with a godly husband only two months after arriving in India. Nathan, a third generation missionary kid who had returned to the States, sensed God leading him back to India to serve. While there he met Rachel and they were married in June, 2005. Their love story inspired Book One, JOURNEY TO JUDAH, in my Born for India trilogy.

Through this account, God has affirmed Psalm 84:11 in my heart: "The Lord God is a sun and a shield; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."

Yet often, it is a daily challenge to embrace those words and live on them. One moment at a time, that's all He asks as the journey continues . . .

The Plot Thickens . . .

"The silence between them was nibbling away at Maggie's nerves as she and Gavin lay in the darkness staring at the ceiling. They shared a bed, but not their hearts, at least not over the last three days since Tim revealed he wasn't going back to Boston."

Excerpt from RESTORED HEARTS, Book Two in the Born for India trilogy
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Aloha Ke Akula

Polynesian morning. Tropical paradise. God's love rising in the morning sun. Gentle breezes. No fog or heavy winds this peaceful daybreak. Hawaiian winds normally blow from the northeast and bring fair weather. When the winds shift to blow from the south, however, they are called KONA winds and often bring storms in the winter. But on this gorgeous Maui morning, God's love floats in on a subtle breeze, reminding me that He is ruler of the water (wai) and the heaven (lanai). He is Master of all--of the elements, of the animals, of all creation, of me.

Teaser from TRANQUIL MOMENTS, SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT FROM THE ISLAND OF MAUI
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