Sometimes, I wonder which memories will stand out when I look back on this time in my life. When my children are grown and gone, what will I remember from the days when they were young?
I was wondering about that not too long ago. It was a day when everything was going right. My heart overflowed with gratitude to God for the four precious gifts He’s given me, and with love for my children. As I watched them play, the thought hit me, as it has before, that one day, these days are going to be gone. One day, my children will be older, and these wonderful, magical years will have flown by.
Oh, I’ll admit there are days that seem far less magical than others. But right now, there is exquisite joy in watching them play, in seeing them run around the house, in hearing their childish requests, in being needed. My heart hurt at the realization that one day, I will no longer be able to cuddle them the same way I do now. I won’t see them running through my home, smiling and carefree, making their own endless entertainment. Everything will be different, and though I know that in some ways things will be even better, I also know that I will miss these times we have together now.
What will I miss most when I think back? I wondered, and the answer came: their laughter. I’ve heard their laughter so many times, and it has come to mean so much to me, that I can’t imagine being without it.
When the kids were smaller, I used to make it my goal to make them giggle wildly at least once a day, because kids deserve to be able to laugh like that. We still laugh together every day. We play games together, and we tickle each other. We tell jokes, and we share funny stories and discoveries. All of these are occasions for laughter. Sometimes, we laugh for no reason at all except delight in something, or in just being together.
Yes, there are times when the sounds in our home are not so pleasant. If you could listen to us, you would sometimes hear harsh words, anger, or frustration. But most often, you would hear laughter.
For our home, and hopefully for yours, laughter is like the soundtrack of a movie. When you’re watching a movie, you don’t usually notice the music because you’re paying more attention to the action. Laughter is like that. It plays unobtrusively in the background. It’s not as noticeable as the jarring notes of anger and disobedience, despite the fact that the latter make up only a few measures of the entire score.
At least, it should be that way. If it isn’t—if the dissonant, inharmonious notes comprise the main soundtrack, with the laughter making up only brief interludes—do something about that now, before intermission, or worse, before the end of the piece. You can change the composition in the middle. Turn it into a beautiful symphony that blesses you and all those around you.
But stop and listen a minute. Is that laughter you hear, playing in the background of your family’s life? Is your soundtrack already beautiful, even if you haven’t noticed? If so, praise God for its beauty. Thank Him for the laughter and the sounds of love and joy that you regularly hear around your home. Learn to listen for the sweet notes more than you do to the strident ones.
What do you hear in the soundtrack of your home?
Part of what you hear depends on the melodies the Composer has woven into His masterpiece. But part of it also depends on what you’ve learned to hear.
I pray you hear laughter.
Psalm 126:2—Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”