Facets of Faith

Conversations about life, faith, and friendship.

The Gifts of Joy and Humor in Life

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Hi, friend! You came to visit, and I’m so glad you did! This month the FACETS are sharing about God’s sense of humor and joy, so August is peppered with chuckles. Tracy shared last week, and you’ll want to get your eyeballs on that one! You won’t want to miss Kim’s contribution next week. Then one of my dearest friends will share a guest post. You definitely need to read Jenna’s post the fourth week. Please hop into the flow and share your funnies, too!

The platypus. If someone wants to know how I (Jennifer) am absolutely sure God has a sense of humor, I could point to the most distinct critter on the planet. An egg-laying mammal is unusual. This toothless creature has no stomach; he has a gullet like a bird and relies on gravel to eat and digest food. He has a duck bill that can detect electrical fields—that’s a superpower. Retractable webbing allows him to change from web-footed water critter to sharp-clawed land rambler like a Transformer®️. And the best part? Mr. Platypus (and only the mister) is—wait for it!—venomous! God’s creativity incorporating unique characteristics from every part of His mind definitely reveals something of His sense of humor. There’s so much joy for me in platypi.

But God doesn’t stop His fantastic originality with critters. Do you know someone who shows off God’s seed of humor in their lives? I have been big-time blessed with two sons, and that (as some boy moms will agree) is fodder for all kinds of laughs. Though, I admit my laughs often had some delay—minutes, days, or decades. *Grin* Take this example: a few weeks ago my brother-in-law shared snippets of the video from his wedding about ten years ago. One clip was PRICELESS!

Imagine: A roaming videographer is capturing best wishes for the newlyweds. This is so perfect and sweet. The video will be the best reminder of all the friends and family on a very special day. What a precious way to walk Memory Lane together after decades of life together.

Fast forward to the part we saw…

My husband’s happy face stared right into the lens and shared nearly two minutes of encouraging words. I was interested in hearing what he had to say, since I hadn’t heard it the first time around. And then…

The “Hambone.” My preschool-aged son’s face appeared in the lower right corner of the screen behind his daddy. First one side, then the other, and back to the first side, making faces the whole time. (We all laughed at the boy playing for the camera while the very happy, encouraging daddy had no idea.) It was one of those adorable moments captured for all time, and it was hilarious!

Eventually, the adorable boy with neatly spiked hair in a tux lost interest in the camera and moved on. Tony kept encouraging the newlywed couple, but I drifted from the words. I noticed, behind him several feet away, I was having a conversation with a cousin. The conversation paused—

The boy had found an open area on the carpet in the lobby and shifted to his favorite activity: breakdancing. In the middle of the lobby. (Have I mentioned he was wearing a rented tux?) Honestly, he had some impressive moves for a preschooler, including spins. Conversations continued around him—except his mom’s.

I had trouble focusing on his dance moves in the video because the next thing I saw was my ASL non-verbal communication kick in. (I had to laugh.) To my husband’s left on the screen is a spinning dance move. Over my husband’s right shoulder is me, signaling what most people know as “SAFE!” in baseball. Back then, I just hoped my son could remember it meant “Don’t!” I probably I hoped the accompanying look filled in any gaps.

Now all of us were laughing at the video, and I was laughing so hard the tears were flowing!

Friend, I can’t tell you how perfectly-timed my brother-in-law’s video was. Sometimes life can be tiring and just too serious, can’t it? Sometimes we desperately need to laugh, and it’s hard to know where it will come from. Maybe it’s the joy in the platypus. It could be in watching someone enjoy life to the full (breakdancing in a tux and all!). Maybe you begin to laugh at yourself. I know this: we really need to laugh! I’m glad sometimes we have the gift of laughter when we need it.

If you’re a mom of littles, you might enjoy laughs several times a day (little people are funny, after all). But maybe that’s not your life—the littles, the laughs, or the frequency of them. If I could do one thing differently, I think I would search harder for the humor in the everyday. The spray-starched sheltie’s 90-minute bath would have been fun. The two-year-old on the refrigerator would have been funny. The ridiculous tendency to get lost would be hilarious. Stress’ kryptonite is laughter, I think.

When life is challenging and you’re feeling pressed by the stuff of life, it’s time to laugh. Who do you know that can bring you back to your giggles, chuckles, and all-out belly laughs? That’s a good place to start.

God’s gift of humor and joy is precious during the hard times. Where we ultimately want to get to is the place of joy—the upbeat, peacefulness blanketing us when we stand in the messy kitchen or the eye of the hurricane. Can you find humor in some of it? Can you find your joy even if the humor hasn’t arrived yet?

Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. Proverbs 31:25 CSB

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let them forever shout for joy! Shelter them; and they will be glad, those who love your name. Psalm 5:11 CJB

How have you seen God’s gift of humor or joy in your life? Take time to thank the friend who gifted it to you when you needed it. Be sure to gift it to others when you can.

Thanks for reading, friend! Would you gift me and the readers with your humor or joy today? Share below or at the Facebook Page.

Signature, Jennifer Howe

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Surrender?

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Welcome to Facets of Faith, a space where three friends share their perspectives on a topic each month. For July, we’re chatting about surrendering our lives to the One who loves us. Be sure to check out what Tracy and Jen had to say by clicking on their names. Kim continues the conversation this week.

This isn’t the life I chose.

I remember walking through downtown London, having just turned 40 while on a trip to visit my oldest daughter on her semester abroad. Meandering my way from Notting Hill toward Big Ben, my thoughts ran faster than my feet would move.

This isn’t the life I wanted.

Every failure seemed to scream for attention. Every failure and poor choice stood glaringly in my way. Ever since my youngest daughter died in a fire that destroyed our home, I feared becoming a statistic, and there were many.

I was a second wife – second marriages fail.

I lost a child – marriages fail after a child dies.

I had just turned 40, lost over 90 pounds, and my marriage was falling apart.

There I was, on a mini-pilgrimage through England, not only a statistic, but a cliche`. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Disappointment clawed at every good memory until all I could see where shredded remnants of a life I thought would last.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, NLT

How did I get here?

I didn’t read the Bible a lot as a kid. I knew a lot of the typical stories from Sunday School along with a few key verses I memorized, truths whose roots wrapped around my heart. The first was written in my childhood bible, given to me shortly after my family moved from Connecticut to Illinois. I remember feeling alone and anxious, wondering if I’d make friends, worried we’d move again and my life would be filled with more good-byes.

She is clothed in strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25, NIV

I didn’t know about the Proverbs 31 woman then, I didn’t understand the lofty expectation this passage often set in women’s hearts. What I did know from the age of 8 was that a woman could be strong and not be afraid of the future. My expectation of life included strength.

A few years later, when I graduated from my children’s bible to a teen version, my mom set another verse in front of me.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV

Freedom shouted from these verses directly to my soul. I could walk in freedom knowing that God guided my steps. I could walk in freedom as I trusted His plan for my life. I could walk in freedom and surrender my expectations and understanding of how life was supposed to be.

Walking in strength with dignity, having no fear of of the future, trusting God and not my own ways, surrendering to His ways in order to gain direction.

Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of surrender.

Knowing these verses was one thing, living them out . . . quite another.

As I grew, my American experience intertwined with my faith. Instead of the pursuit of surrender, I believed that a life following God meant a life filled with good things. With ease. With happiness. With more sunflowers than rain.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9, NLT

When the storm of death crashed into my home, when the heart of my youngest daughter ceased beating, when breath was snatched from my lungs in grief, all that I knew needed to be redefined. All that I expected needed reworking. All that I understood needed a shift in perspective.

I returned to Scripture and dove in, head first. I sucked up its truth as it filled the crevices sorrow had carved. I returned to those verses of my youth and sat with them until they made more sense, until God revealed more of Himself, more of His heart and character. I realized I had to believe all of Scripture or none at all. I either had to believe God or determine He lied. I had to trust that Jesus did love me, or it was all just a childhood song.

I needed to surrender the life I wanted for the one that I lived, even though it included more heartache I ever thought possible to endure.

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10

It’s been six years since I walked the streets of London. Six years filled with a lot of wrestling and questioning, a lot of doubt and fear. Six years filled with hope and healing, with grace and mercy, with redemption and restoration. Six years of learning to shift my eyes to Jesus, the One who does love me, who is the Author and Perfector of my life.

And while there isn’t a grand “happily ever after”, there is a lot of goodness, a life filled with love. The more I surrender to God’s plan for my life, the more I embrace this life I didn’t want, the more I taste His goodness and experience His grace.

No, this still isn’t the life I chose, but I’m learning to walk in strength and dignity, to trust God to lead my steps, and to giggle along the way.

How are you learning to surrender? Share below or head over to our Facebook page. Either way, come join the conversation!

“I Give Up. Who Am I?”

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Hello, friend! I’m glad you paused for this month’s topic at FACETS because it’s a good one! Tracy’s post last week was heart-felt and full of truth. Kim will bring her beautiful heart to the screen next week. Then we look forward to a guest we think you should know the fourth week. Take a peek on Tuesdays to find out what’s happening at Facets. We think amazing conversations can begin surrounding the topics and posts.


What’s your secret? I (Jennifer) suffer from bouts with amnesia. When I sat down to write I wondered if I’d find myself in good company. Maybe I will. The truth is, sometimes I have no idea who I am. More importantly, I forget whose I am. Let me explain.

For those who believe God, you know there was a point in time when everything changed. That was true for me the summer of ’94. I had survived so many challenging relationships, experiences, and choices by then. That summer, I made the only choice that will ever matter, I think. I decided to believe God. Sure, I could have tried to do all the right things to impress Almighty God, Holy God—but that couldn’t work. I would still be the court jester performing for the King in His presence, and it wouldn’t do a thing to address the real problem. Outside of believing God, I can do nothing to improve my condition: I’m imperfect in the presence of holiness, offending holy God by trying to be good enough to earn His love. What does that mean? When my imperfection meets Holy God, He has resolved everything in Jesus.

It’s new life and new beginnings in that moment, right? Yes!

A-n-n-n-nd then I forget who I am and whose I am. The past creeps into a moment and blackens it. Memories of whatever I thought changed my life forever in a bad way slither onto the stage of my mind and begin the ugly dance I’ve seen before. I think I even know the choreography by now. The amnesia tries to strip me of my whole identity. Oh, it’s never all at once. Usually, it’s bit by bit, little things I might not even notice at first—the slip of an unkind word or thought, replacing the truth with something slightly warped or “more interesting” than reality. You get the picture. Maybe you even have the dance in your own head choreographed. It tends to look something less of the people of God and more like people who have no regard for Him.

But we are called to something else!

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 NLT

In my best moments, this is what I want—to believe God and live in a way that honors Him. Then the amazing adventure follows: His good plan for my life. And so, I begin by believing that He has a good plan…and that He wants me to think clearly about who He is, who I am, and the good life He has planned.

But, the cause of the amnesia is often from a single root. When I forget, I’m missing who He is and my identity that is a gift from Him through Jesus. The great thing is, when I can’t remember, powerful words  will serve to correct my thought patterns and create the right kind of memory! (Thank you for the Bible, God!)

King David puts it beautifully in Psalm 139, CSB:

1 Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord. 5 You have encircled me; You have placed Your hand on me. 6 [This] extraordinary knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to [reach] it.

Is there any moment in time when my God, my Abba, my Daddy, isn’t aware of me, my world, and even my internal life? No, my God knows everything about me, and He’s mindful of me!

7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. 9 If I live at the eastern horizon [or] settle at the western limits, 10 even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will hold on to me.

Can I mistakenly find myself out of His sight? Will I be misled? No, He is always with me, ready to lead me in the right direction. And the best part? He holds me close. He loves me; I’m never alone and He leads me if I’m willing (if I’ll surrender to His will).

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will become night”— 12 even the darkness is not dark to You. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to You.

But those dark times—is He aware, and does He care? I must remember: yes, He knows. More than that, He is with me in them, and there are times He will bring light to the darkness, the kind that overwhelms the dark entirely. I also know there are times I may not see brilliant light for a while, and then I’ll have enough light for the step I’m taking (Psalm 119:105). Some things I can’t change, but I know the light and the darkness are under His power.

13 For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know [this] very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all [my] days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

Verses 13-16 can be the first step in the amnesia dance in my head. (Is it similar in your head?) I quickly forget the amazing thing that happens when God creates life. Sometimes it’s hard to see the beauty or even to love the life I have. The struggle is real when I think about whatever seems “off” from others’ “normal.” Is it “wonderful” when _______ is part of everyday life? (Fill in the blank with thousands of options!) You and I were made with purpose and for a purpose. God had a plan from the beginning, and there is no Plan B. Plan A is redemption of all things (the good, the bad, the ugly in everything), and His plan is to use people (very often) to bring things to right in this world. (Here’s a random thought: think about how many people work for God and have no idea they do. Atheist doctors may resist that thought. *grin*)

17 God, how difficult Your thoughts are for me [to comprehend]; how vast their sum is! 18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with You.

With all that I know about my God, there is so much I can never grasp! What I really want to begin to understand is that li’l, old me is so precious to Him that He thinks of me all the time. Imagine that! And He thinks of all of us in this way and so frequently. I don’t steal a single thought moment from you, friend, and you don’t steal from me. We are equally precious!

23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.

Here’s the deep root of the surrender part! I have to ask myself questions, and the answers are telling. Do I believe God, that He is good, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, loving, and always thinking of me? Do I believe He has my best interest in mind with every single detail of my life—the things He allows and the things He doesn’t, the things He changes or stops…and the things He doesn’t? Because, if I believe God (in the true character and identity!), then I want Him to speak to me about my words, thoughts, actions, and plans for each day. And I really don’t want to offend Him.

That means I will learn the heart and mind of my God. I will study who He is, and ask Him to help me live in a way that reveals more obviously whose I am. That’s fighting the amnesia with truth and reality, and that makes me less drawn into the dance each time.

Am I perfect? Somehow more perfect than I was the summer of ’94?

Yes…and no.

I am a child of the King. I was redeemed (simultaneously bought with a price and made right in the sight of Holy God) on that day. So yes, I am so different now. I know exactly how the plan ends, but only because I believe God, honestly.

And I live a real life in this world. Ask anyone, and they will tell you I have some “skillz” (with a Z). I have beautiful friends and family who have seen me eat a lot of things: humble pie, crow, and my own feet (both of them!). My love of words can be the very thing that ruins me some days. I also have to learn to love well because that’s really hard for me for lots of reasons. And as I said, the past chases me and tries to figure out how to command center stage in my mind.

But this is about surrender and the pursuit of it. The truth is, we live in the already and not yet of all of this.

When any one of us dives deep into the truth of what God has to say—and when we believe God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do…

That’s when He brings life and liberty in the pursuit of surrender, baby! We are more alive than ever, and we live in freedom that comes with that belief and knowledge.

All that said, if you’re living in the “real world” with difficult struggles and challenges in the pursuit of surrender, I want to share the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr. I hope it speaks to you, too. We are all in the process of pursuit.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
 and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; 
Enjoying one moment at a time; 
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world
 as it is, not as I would have it; 
Trusting that He will make all things right 
if I surrender to His Will;
 That I may be reasonably happy in this life 
and supremely happy with Him
 Forever in the next. Amen. ~Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971)

Thanks for reading, friend! Please comment below or at our Facebook Page. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic this month, Psalm 139, or the Serenity Prayer.

Signature, Jennifer Howe