Kristy 0:06

Welcome to Unstaken, the podcast where unwavering faith in its real life. I'm Christy, and together with my husband Tony, we dive into authentic conversations, offering biblical insights and sharing stories that inspire resilience, especially for families navigating the challenges of disabilities. Join us each week as we explore faith family and the journeys that keep us grounded in Christ. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Let's stand firm together. Hello, Unchicken family. It's Christy, and I'm here with Tony. Tonight we want to talk about laughter. You would think that laughter is one of those universal things. It would be the easiest thing in the world to talk about and just sort of get context on, but for us, it was not. So I want to let you in on our process a little bit here so I can bring you up to speed with how we got to this moment in time. So typically Tony and I talk about just like what we think we might want upcoming episodes to be about, just generally speaking, in themes or whatever. And so we've been, you know, we've been kind of working on some positive stuff. And uh we decided that tonight would be about laughter, and I was completely on board. Generally speaking, then it's Tony's job to come up with like a general outline, just like the main bullet points or whatever. And then typically I flesh it out because I am the chatty one, and um, it just that's just how we usually do this thing. And so Tony gave me the bullet points for this episode. I read them and they did not compute. I just I couldn't make sense of it. And so I tried and tried, and then I came back to him and I was like, babe, if you're gonna, you're gonna have to help me. Like, I need you to explain this, I need you to say this in different words. Like somehow I'm not understanding what you're getting at here. The issue that I was having is around we're we're talking about, or I think what we what we're going to get into talking about is um laughter as sort of a restorative thing for people who have had um just tough seasons or seasons of responsibility or stress or whatever. And the thing I couldn't place is how that's not already part of the the process, because for me, I mean it is. I never don't laugh. I laugh all the time. I laugh, I've like, I mean, I literally I laugh all the time. If I'm upset, it's irrelevant. I just, I don't know, things in my brain entertain me, or I find something and I laugh all the time. As Tony and I talked further, what I realized is that I think I am the odd duck, as usual. I went online and I read, I spent a lot of time reading and just kind of trying to wrap my head around this thing. And yeah, guys, it's me. I'm the it's me. Hi, it's me. No, I think it's it's me. Hi, I'm the problem. It's me. Um for me, laughter is sort of a, it's like a pressure valve. And I think it's how I stay relatively regulated. It's how I like process through things. When stuff gets very stressful and difficult, my brain does not allow me to go to that place. I don't, it's not a place that I am able to access. I find some way to relieve that, like to just release the pressure, and then I continue on. And so I feel like for me, it's a matter of sort of processing as I go. And what I found out is that most of the world doesn't do that. Yeah. So this has been such a like I want to say a learning curve, but it's been like a learning 180 for me this week as we've kind of talked through this. Um where we've landed is um laughter is it's a a safety thing. Um, um, some people don't feel safe enough to be light, to be, to be in a space where laughter feels like good and safe. I guess these are people who turn inward, who um who compartmentalize or who encapsulate stress and then go to this place where that's what safety is, is being able to stay in that headspace where they're responsible or where they're practical and competent and stable and all of those things. I mean, to me, that just sounds like a like a pressure cooker, just waiting to blow. And for me, I'm the I'm the valve. I have that, I have that small release all the time. And so what I've come to is this just real position of empathy. If this is you, if you are someone who um, when things get tough, you turn inward and um kind of lose that ability to let off steam. I'm so sorry. That's gotta be so very painful. This is what what we kind of wanted to talk about. If you're in this position, if if you're stressed this way and life has just been so very difficult, and and it is, right? It is for so many people, especially when there's disability involved, there's family stuff, financial stuff. Right now, there's just so much political stuff. It's it's a it's a tough world. If this is you and you haven't had that relief, the the relief that laughter brings in a long time, I would encourage you to, I mean, to think it through. Um, sometimes I think the most spiritual thing maybe you could do would be to laugh again. Not because life is easy, but because it is heavy, because it is difficult, because you can only do that for so long. Um, you deserve a release.

Tony 6:23

If laughter has felt like it's been off limits, we want you to know that we see you. Many of us, myself included, grew up and we learned to equate like seriousness with maturity. There's this unspoken fear that laughed us that laughter will make us look like we're not serious, or that we're not mature, or in some cases that we're not spiritual. That is so far from the truth. God is not impressed by the amount of heaviness that you are somehow managing to carry. And it's a topic for another day, but honestly, I think it's the opposite. If you're carrying a heavy weight, God is saying, please stop, like, please stop carrying that heavy weight, like give it to me. Like it says in scripture, Come to me, all of you, all of you who are burdened. Take on my yoke. My yoke is light. And he's saying that because he wants to carry that burden. He's near to us, one, to give us comfort, because he always wants to comfort us. He loves us, but he also wants to be near because he's like, please give it to me. Let me have it, let me take it. I think as part of that process, he wants to restore and really give us permission to laugh and to smile again. And and I think he wants he wants us to to have that. So please don't think that like you're less because you make the choice to laugh. You're taking a breath, and that's what we all need.

Kristy 8:24

I think if if your season is stressful, if your circumstances are difficult, and it is your job, whether it's as as the head of a family, um, as the mom, as, you know, whatever, whatever your role is, if if it is your job to take care of things and to be the one that is steady and strong, I would say to you this: it is not job abandonment to take a little break.

Tony 8:54

Amen to that.

Kristy 8:55

It is not, you are not betraying anything, you're not, you know, neglecting your duty. Um, if anything, I would say you are equipping yourself to better, to better serve, to better support, to better hold that role because you did let off a little bit of steam. Absolutely. My own neurodiversity gets in my way so often, and it's because I don't realize that my experience is not typical. I don't, there's no way for me to see that from the inside. But I can imagine that it feels very risky after a season of hardship to lean into laughter, to lean into joy with maybe the thought that that could be taken away from you or that it might not hold up, it might not be real, it might not be maybe you think that it's not something you deserve in that moment. And I feel like that just couldn't be farther from the truth. I just, I feel like God wants all of us to be healthy and to have the emotional safety to take care of ourselves, to let go when we need to. So the scripture anchor for this week is Proverbs 17, uh verse 22. And it says, a joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Couldn't be more crystal clear than that. The point isn't to dismiss your pain or your struggle, it's not to minimize that in any way, but to affirm joy as something that's healing, as something that is like a balm to your soul. It's good for your body, it's good for your heart, it's good for your mind. I think this verse does speak to the body. I think it's not just a soul thing. I think it really is physically um important. And um, we'll talk about that. I have some notes on that for later, but God gets it, right? God gets how stress and sorrow and struggle live in us. You know, a seed is planted and and they just really dig in and he understands and he wants to, like Tony was saying earlier, he wants to to carry that load with us for us, but he understands, like he understands how we we got there. He understands how that happens. I really believe that. And I I really believe that he's looking for us to have to have balance between it should never just be a tough season without respite. Um, just like it should never, you know, it should never be frivolity and never, you know, never working or or struggling. That's not how we're made. That's not how he, that's not how he grows us. Um, it's it's always in the balance. I want to talk about that crushed spirit thing for just a second, because I think a crushed spirit, um, it's a really powerful image for me. You know, when you think of something that's crushed, when you think of, for me, I think of my kids spilled goldfish on the carpet and crushed them into the rug with their shoes. And you think of the the dust, the powder that that becomes, that's what crushed is. It's it's blown to smithereens. Crushed spirit dries up our bones. It's more than emotional. Like I think it's so clearly more than just the emotional pain that we're talking about here. When I think of laughter as respite from struggle, I think it's just one more example of God's beautiful plan. He's got this design for our wholeness, for our mind, body, spirit. Like he he never leaves anything out. Um, I think it's just one more example of that just absolute, incredibly nuanced, detailed plan that he has that overlaps everyone and everything.

Tony 13:00

I I loved how you said you talked about balance because I think we can get to a point that we think God only cares about the spiritual side of things. I fully agree with you. I don't think that that's the case. I think God cares about all of it mind, body, soul, like you said. And I believe that that laughter is a is just one of those things that God gives us to just help us keep going one breath at a time. I think that's important. As we talk about this subject of laughter and how it is part of the process, I think it's important to to think about why we forget to laugh. And I believe, because this is kind of how I've grown up and and I'm you know very big on compartmentalizing. I I do that too much. But responsibility has a way of crowding out all the places where God wants us to take those moments of joy. You know, we get so busy and we get so caught up in crisis after crisis. We we become the the best firefighters on the planet because we just go from one fire to the next. We put out one or we le at least get it under control, and then we we jump to the next thing that that we see is out of control. And and we do that so much and so often that we just end up in a in an endless cycle of just survival. And when you're in that survival cycle, there's no time for laughter. What are you talking about, laughter? I'm not gonna laugh. There's no there's no reason to laugh in in all of this. Like we've said before, it's the weight of everything that we're carrying. It's caregiving or disability or just constantly being on the lookout. You know, that means something.

Kristy 14:57

It's so interesting. It's so interesting to me. I think it's not if I understand what you're saying correctly, you're it's not sadness, it's not like depression, it's not anti-happy, it's more like a narrowing of focus, and you just sort of get lasered in on what you're getting through or what you're trying to move past, or whatever it is, and it's just like it's like almost like an efficiency thing, like you can't let it in. Um, there's like less play and spontaneity and like all of those things that are whimsical or you know funny or like you can't see it, the blinders are on is almost the impression I get.

Tony 15:35

Yeah, and part of it too is is that learned sort of unspoken belief that if we laugh, then we're not taking things seriously. And we're not paying attention to all the serious things that are around us, on top of us, are crushing us, you know, it and that's where we get that loss of spontaneity and feeling like it's not safe because we have been taught to believe that if we're laughing, then everything is fine. And we know that everything is not fine because we've got a dozen things and we're trying to juggle and and keep all the all the plates spinning or all the balls in the air, however you wanna, you know, visualize that. Like we all do that. We're all trying to keep multiple things in the air, and whether you're a mom, you're dad, you're you know, a caregiver, or like you're living uh, you know, on your own and you're living with the disability and having to adapt constantly, you are the one that is creating the safe spaces, and once that safe space is created, it's still hard to relax because we're so trained, we're so ingrained in moving on to the next thing. Because it is that efficiency, it's like I only have so much energy. So once I get one crisis done, I better work on the next one because my fuel tank is is running out. When we have those momentary wins, we sour them because we're always like, Well, if I'm this high, something's about to come, there's there's disaster around the corner. In that moment, we're self-sabotaging all of the laughter, all of the joy, all of the good medicine that we should be taking from those moments. Truly being present. We have to really think about when did laughter start feeling distant? When did responsibility start to dictate emotional headwinds? How can we get to a place where we say, you know what? I'm not going to let circumstance dictate the emotional response. Rather, I'm going to lean into God, lean into what I know is what I know is true from what he tells me, and say, you know what, this is hard. I love a big God who loves me. Here's a moment that I'm with my wife or I'm with my kids, and we're doing something that's fun. I'm gonna enjoy this moment. I'm gonna give myself permission to laugh, I'm gonna give myself permission to smile, and I'm gonna give myself permission to be fully a part of these moments, knowing that all that stuff is still there, I'm not going to let guilt dictate everything that goes on 24-7.

Kristy 18:51

I can say that in my own experience and in the research that I did online to just kind of check all this out, like, because I have spent my entire life thinking that I was just like annoying. Just it's such a different perspective for me. And I it is my own neurodiversity, is is the issue. But what I can say factually is that laughter is not avoidance in a difficult season or a difficult situation. It is relief. Laughter addresses the nervous system piece of all of this. Um, it brings regulation, um, emotional regulation and physical regulation. It's not denial of problems or, you know, trying to escape. It's not um pretending that you're happy. It's not anything like that. It's not even minimizing the situation for a little minute, like a like a window on your computer screen. It's, I mean, it's all still there. It's just taking a minute and going outside, just like sometimes we get, you know, stressed at work or whatever. And the thing that makes it okay is to just get up and take a little walk, like get away from it for a minute. And I feel like that's what this is. It's it's a physiological and a psychological reset. It's just a little minute away. When we laugh, our breathing changes, like our muscles release. There's um there's just so much goodness that comes with it. Um, the stress hormones that we harbor in those difficult times are reduced. Um, it activates the vagus nerve, which changes pretty much everything. We are more open to connection, we're more able to see cues from others, um, you know, bids for connection. We're more able to see safety signals where in those difficult moments when we are so laser focused on the situation at hand, and and we do maybe have those blinders on that are just blocking out, I guess, the adjacent things that are not part of the the crucial stuff, we're not always able to see safety signals. We we get kind of stuck, I think, in those moments where things, everything just feels unsafe. Um, and I can absolutely relate to that. I um so I think when we're able to to let that go and laugh, just to have that moment, or you know, maybe it's an hour, maybe it's an afternoon, maybe it's 12 seconds, but just that ability to have a really good belly laugh or a really just happy, happy time. That's body work that changes our bodies. Um, it changes the our chemical composition in our brain. It it just really resets everything. And so I, you know, I think it's it's part of God's plan, right? Like that's how He built us. He built us knowing that there is. An antidote for the poison of the world, and it's it's as simple as laughing.

Tony 22:06

And laughing is not just joking around to like avoid reality. What we're talking about is is laughing as a moment of grace. Healthy laughter does not pretend like that pain isn't there, it just refuses to let the pain be the only voice in the room. I think that's where we've got to get to. We've got to get to a point where where we put a stake in the ground, you know, we we put our foot down and we we say, no, this is not going to be the only voice. We are going to understand how our great creator made us, and we're going to use all the things that that he gave us in order to be able to move forward in a more complete way. It starts with us as the individual, but then we also have to be able to find ways to bring laughter into our homes.

Kristy 23:08

I think sometimes that happens kind of I I almost think sometimes it's like the family, the kids, I think sometimes that's the genesis of the light of the of the break, right? It's when things are difficult and I am able to realize this is impacting my kids. This is impacting my family. This is, you know, maybe this is an adult situation. I have been absent from those joyful interactions with my kiddo because I've, you know, because I've been dealing with this over, you know, I think, I think sometimes that's, you know, that's the hook that brings us back into the realm of lightness. But even if it's not, right? Even if it's just like, oh my gosh, like I just realized this is not okay, you know, um, or maybe, you know, maybe you're just starting to think about it. I can't express to you how deeply Tony and I have both thought about it, you know, this week as we've kind of talked through this stuff. It can be just a little, you know, like a breeze, like a soft little gentle breeze. Laughter can be like that. Um, I mean, it can also be like an absolute like pause where, you know, we're all in on this for an afternoon or or, you know, whatever, a vacation. We've gone on vacation from our problem so that we can come back, you know, restored, whatever the case may be. I think it's like micro relief or micro safety, micro-normalcy. Um, just little tiny pieces of it that just bring us back to whatever.

Tony 24:45

What does this look like from a practical perspective? You know, it could be like inside jokes. I mean, how many inside jokes do Christy and I have that like we're we're walking into a place and we're laughing at each other and nobody understands why, but it's because it's something that we've said to each other, where whether it's a it's a phrase that we use with each other, or maybe it's a spot from a movie that we both enjoy that you know, and so one of us will say a line from it and it just you know makes the other person laugh.

Kristy 25:23

It's things like shared memories and i yeah, it it's what I kind of where I was going to. It brings connection, like it's not just the the laughing, which is huge and great, but it does it brings that sense of um of connection and of shared experience, which I think is valuable in in a lot of ways too.

Tony 25:44

Retelling funny stories. How many times when when I truly have to laugh, I I think about and and we've we've told this story on on the podcast, but you know, I I think about our our our our baby, our little one, tossing the hamburger out the car window. Thinking about that story just makes me smile. You know, remembering moments of just pure happiness and joy. It's okay to look back on those moments and pull that joy forward. You know, we we talk about tapestry a lot here on this podcast, and I think that's one of the cool things when you do look back on your tapestry. Yes, you see all the hard moments that, man, you should be so proud that that you walked through those moments, but also as part of that tapestry, you're also seeing all of the little joyful, like weird things that that like just made you smile and made you like laugh so hard your stomach hurt because of some silly thing that made no sense to anybody else, but you know what? For me and Christy and our family, yeah, we laugh every single time, and it just it's for us, and I think every family has that, right? I think everybody, every family has those like signature moments that are just joy and laughter, you know, and it's okay to like make those like traditions, talk about those things and and relive those moments and and let your kids you know relive the moments and retell the moments, you know. Maybe maybe they they tell it from their perspective, and you're able to see that moment again from new eyes. And now you got another layer that's just as funny, but it's a new layer that maybe you didn't know before.

Kristy 27:54

I think it's just in those little rituals, it's those little bitty, it's those little bitty things that I almost want to say are sparked by gratitude or thankfulness. I think there's so many good things that can feed into this that bring this sense of light and and can free us up to laugh. It's just amazing how our God gives us, there's so many switches, so many levers, like so many ways back into this place of balance that He provides for us by way of just laughter. I don't think it means like, you know, just like add some fun and everything will be fine. Like, I don't think it's like that at all. But I do think that it's add some fun, just have a little minute and go back to whatever you were facing as a better version of yourself, physically and mentally and emotionally and spiritually, uh, just more balanced.

Tony 28:52

I think it's important here that we make sure that we say this out loud. This is not about cultivating a lightness. We're not talking about manufacturing laughter, we're talking about taking the the things that have already happened. This is about taking what's already there and and remembering those moments and in some cases rele you know, reliving those moments um just to give you a smile. Let me just take the pressure off right now and please don't think that like we're at we're asking you to like create laughter drama or something like that.

Kristy 29:33

No, tell a dumb joke, tell a dad joke, you know, watch a movie that you know makes you laugh. Um, you know, do ask your kids to, you know, to show you something that that they kids are forever saying, you know, mommy, watch me, mommy, watch me, look, look. And it's usually something that makes them laugh like crazy while they're doing it. You know, it could be just as easy as something like that. What it isn't, and I want to be really clear about this, is this isn't uh Christians should be joyful. So there's no shame attached to this. It's it's not that you should feel bad because, you know, because you've forgotten maybe to laugh for a little while, or it just hasn't, it hasn't been part of your consciousness. It just hasn't like there's nothing, we're not trying to say anything punitive or um judgmental in any way whatsoever. It's just, I mean, God designed our bodies, our nervous systems in addition to our souls. It's not just spiritual peace. There's there's other stuff to it. And he he knows he made us like this. Like he created us this way. And he gave us, I mean, to some extent, he gave us this ability, you know, to focus on what needs focus, I think, maybe to to protect us, maybe to allow us to, I don't know, to get in there and do what needs to be done and and not be distracted. I don't know. I'm always distracted. I don't know. Um But um, you know, I do know that that everything that we are comes from him. It comes from a creator who loves us. Like there are no words to even approach how he loves us and what I mean, just what excellence and beauty and joy he wants for us. Um, you know, I think ultimately, like we've we've talked about in in recent episodes, he wants us to give him the heavy stuff to carry. And realistically, that's a great plan A. But it's also not what we do every time. Like, and it's not, I think it's different, right? To lay down a burden at the feet of our God and say, like, you know, I need you to carry this. I think that's different from living through a stressful situation. Like it's I think it's I think they're kind of two different things. Like, I mean, it takes endurance and it takes persistence and it's hard. It's it's hard to live through difficult seasons. It truly is, it can be very intense. It can be, I don't know, I'm like, I'm not telling you guys anything you don't know. That doesn't surprise God. And I don't think he's, you know, I don't think he's annoyed that some of us are are stoic and um maybe just a little more focused as we endure, you know, situations that are difficult.

Tony 32:33

I think part of this too is understanding that joy in and of itself, it's a strength, it's not a distraction. God gave us the ability to laugh. Why did he do that? Because he wanted us to laugh. He wanted us to have that ability to laugh. And I mean, we we see it in I mean, we even see it in scripture, right at the end of the book of John, it's in John 21. The disciples are there, they're out fishing. They fish all night and they haven't caught anything. Jesus shows up on the shore, but they don't realize that it's him. And he calls out, Hey, have you caught any fish? They say, No. Hey, throw your nets on the other side. And they do it, and they catch such a such a big catch that like their nets are starting to break. And that's when they realize, that's that's when they realize that it's him on the shore waiting for them. It's the same thing that he did when he first called them to be his disciples. John, who is the craziest of the bunch, I think, is so crazy over this, he jumps in the water, robe, sandals, fully clothed, everything he jumps in the water, swims to shore. In my mind, he runs to Jesus, stopping wet, and throws his arms around him. Do you not think that those two were laughing the entire time while while embraced in a big bear hug? It's what God wants. And we have the space to laugh, even in the stressful situations. It's human, it's part of it.

Kristy 34:14

Thinking about the the story that you were just telling about Jesus, that's so cool to think about like actual Jesus, like Jesus on earth just laughing and goofing off with his friends and being happy, you know, that you know, he had that, he has the the ability to to do this big thing and he does it to just bring levity and joy. I think that joy like this, laughter, that that sort of letting go, I think what that reflects, I think what it is indicative of is trust that for a minute I can let go of the wheel, I can let go, you know, my stress, my fear, my whatever, and trust that it's it's gonna be waiting when I get back, you know, it's it's gonna be okay. I can I can take this minute and everything isn't gonna fall apart while I'm you know, while I'm away from my stressful duties, or I'm not even sure how to say that, but I just think it's indicative of trust that everything will be okay without me for a minute.

Tony 35:21

I so totally agree because joy in and of itself, it's not performance, it's not pretending. It is trust. It's trust that God is still good while everything is still hard. If laughter comes in the in those moments, take it, accept it, receive it with gratitude. Like Chrissy said, the stuff that's going on, it it's still gonna be there. Take the moment with God, laugh, smile, maybe even look up to the heavens and say, God, thank you. Thank you for this moment. Here's the other side of that. If there is no laughter, but you can just take a moment to breathe, that's okay too. This entire episode has been about laughter, but if you can just take a moment to just breathe and just give yourself a reset, give yourself a moment with God, I promise you, He can hold you, He can be with you in that moment, and there's still joy in that moment, even if you don't have a big old bell belly laugh. Joy is still there, joy is still present.

Kristy 36:36

The world is a a little bit of a tough place right now, but God doesn't want us, he doesn't ask us to carry any of this without relief. He doesn't ask us to do any of this without him, without, without the ability to trust, even in those moments, that somebody who's a you know a better captain than us is running the ship while we're doing what we need to do to reset, you know, our um our bodies, our minds, our you know, ourselves, truly ourselves um as a whole. It's not even just that he doesn't ask us to do that without a break. He wants the break for us. Like he wants it so much for us. He wants everything that's good for us as his kids, you know. I mean, think about that, right? Think about if your kiddos are having sort of a solemn season, you know, and all you want is just to see them laugh. All you want is just to see them be kids. You want to see them have some fun, you know, have a sense of normalcy and just be kids the way kids are meant to be. And I really think that God looks on us kind of that same way. You know, He wants for us what what a good parent wants for their for their babies.

Tony 37:58

We need to name this that life is heavy. We know that. Laughter isn't a luxury, it's a gift.

Kristy 38:07

Yes.

Tony 38:08

And I think we need to remember this. A gift is something that you receive, it's not something that you earn. God is giving us a gift of laughter, not because we've earned it, but because he's a good, good father and loves us and he wants us to have it. So if you think that you need permission to laugh, you don't. It's a free gift that God is is wanting to give you and is probably been trying to give you for a long time. He knows what we need, he's he's not blind to all the tough things that are going on in your life. Take a moment to laugh.

Kristy 38:55

Yeah.

Tony 38:56

And maybe in that moment of laughter, in that moment that you laugh and all the physical things that Christy mentioned earlier happen. You know, all the resets and you know, with your nervous system, all that stuff happens. When you're done laughing, you take one more breath and you say, Okay, God. Thank you.

Kristy 39:21

Yeah.

Tony 39:21

And then you go forward in whatever whatever direction he wants you to go forward in.

Kristy 39:30

So if it's been a rough minute, stick out your arms and do some spinning, or you know, tell a joke, get a kid to tell you a joke, watch a movie, whatever it is that brings you that peace, that gives you a minute to just feel that happiness, feel that joy, that's what you should do, and you shouldn't feel bad about it.

Tony 39:54

Not a bit. My gosh, Unshaken Family, you guys have just been showing up and showing out. We love you so much. We don't want to let this moment go by without just acknowledging how many of you have just been hitting play over 300 cities.

Kristy 40:14

So can I hop in on that for a second? Absolutely. All right. If you are the person who listened to us this week for the first time from Lanexa, Kansas, you were number 300. We prayed for you, we're thankful for you. Um, we're thankful for all of you, and we pray for all of you. That was just a really special, you know, special, special thing. And so I just wanted to mention it.

Tony 40:36

If that was you, that was really cool. We're so awed and amazed. Um, and so thankful that you guys are pressing play.

Kristy 40:45

Uh, one more thing about this is that so um you guys know that we just came back from Podfest. We met some new friends, we've had some people um helping us out on social media, making mentions, or you know, in their own emails to their own um listeners and what have you. As you see our stuff on Facebook or on Instagram, if it just kind of crosses your path, if if that's how you found us, do us a favor and just make a little comment, hit like, or, you know, some sign that you're seeing it and and let us know that that's how you found us, or there's prompts on a lot of the posts that you could respond to or whatever. Just let us hear from you. We love you so much, and we're so just so very thankful for you. And we would just love the opportunity to interact with you that way and to learn more about you, even if it is just that's how you came to us.

Tony 41:38

We love you guys. Um, again, so thankful for you. Um, take a moment today and laugh. It's worth it, and share this with somebody who maybe needs to laugh today. We all need to laugh more. Let's do that just a little bit more each and every day. So, can I pray for us? Yeah, please. Father, we come before you today. Thankful for the way that you have designed us, thankful for just being able to laugh and having the ability to laugh. Father, help us to accept this gift that you want to give each and every one of us of laughter. Help us to connect with those that we love and just have a moment where we laugh together. Help us to not feel guilty when we laugh. Help us to know that we don't look bad when we laugh. Help us to know that we're not immature because we laugh, but rather we're gathering our strength in a moment of reset because we laugh. So help us laugh with you, help us to see the love that you have for us in the laughter, and help us to go forward with such a glad heart, a lighter heart that's carrying just a little bit less because we took a moment to laugh. Thank you for Jesus and for the example that he was and is in scripture, of all the playful moments that he had with those that he loved and cared for, because he loves and cares for each one of us just the same. Thank you, Father. It's in your son's name that we pray. Amen.

Kristy 43:37

Amen.

Tony 43:38

We thank you so much, friends. We hope you have a great day, a great rest of your week, and we'll see you next time.