A Cheery Countenance

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.”
Proverbs 15:13(NKJV)


Does God have a sense of humor? I think He does. He created man in His image and man innately has a sense of humor, so I think God does too. After all, Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. This section of my blog will be a time to laugh.

The Goat

One summer several years ago, my family was on our way to South Carolina for a family vacation at the beach. We stopped at my sister’s home in North Carolina to break up the trip. It was to be a vacation with the extended family and my sister along with her family were coming too. They planned to car pool with us the next day. So, my family of six stopped at my sister’s house for the night. Her oldest daughter had undergone outpatient surgery earlier that week and was recovering at home – she would not be coming to the beach until later in the week and her family was planning on staying an extra week.

That same evening, my sister found a goat wandering around in her neighborhood. This was a surprising find, as she lives in a gated community where no one owns goats! Equally surprising was the fact that the goat was wearing a collar. She brought it home to keep until the next day when she could figure out where it belonged (a nearby petting zoo, maybe?) She put the goat in her garage for the night…...bad idea!

That night, the goat made bleating noises ALL night long keeping most of the household awake and he also messed ALL over my sister’s garage. It was everywhere – in places I never knew a goat could reach. I will spare you the details but suffice it to say that I have never seen such a mess in my life!! The next day we made the boys (her son and my two sons) clean the garage.

Sometime later, one of my sons was talking about the goat experience and said, "You know mom, I think God has a sense of humor. I think He looked down from heaven at Aunt Alisa and said to Himself, 'Let's see...she has 11 people staying at her house...her daughter just had surgery...and she is packing to leave for a two week vacation...hmm?...What kind of fun can I have with her? I know! I think I'll send her a goat!!'"