A few years ago, I regularly attended meetings “support group” style.  It was a good place to go when my emotional battery needed to be recharged, and I always left feeling better for having been there.  Although each meeting was wonderful, one in particular remains “unforgettable.”  I wish I could say it was because someone said something that deeply moved me, inspired me or shed light on an area of confusion.  But I can’t.  Nope – this meeting became “unforgettable” because of a woman with a runny nose.

You see – I was sitting in a room with probably 20 other folks all trying to squeeze around a large oblong table.  Directly across from me sat a woman with an atrocious head cold or allergies or something of that nature.  In any case, she had a severely drippy nose.  Yikes – and no Kleenex in sight. I did my best to stay focused on what was being discussed.  Really I did.  But I’m easily distracted.  As people spoke I found myself watching this woman (of course it was out of the corner of my eye – it would have been rude to stare).  Anyway, the drippier her nose got, the more distracted I became.  I really felt for her, after all – what was the poor woman to do?  She did what anyone else would do in that situation; she wiped her nose on the back of her hand… again and again.

When the meeting finally came to a close – we all joined hands to pray “The Lord’s Prayer.”  I quickly sighed with relief and silently spoke to God, “Thank you Lord for placing the woman with the runny nose across the room from me so I don’t have to hold her hand.”  (Awful I know, but I was still wearing my Christian training wheels – if you know what I mean.)  Just then she broke the circle of joined hands, walked to where I was standing and proceeded to take hold of my hand – with the hand she’d been wiping her nose with.  As others bowed their heads in prayer, I looked toward the heavens smiling from ear to ear.  From where I stood I could almost hear God laughing.  Not just a giggle – it was more like a full-blown, gut-busting belly laugh.

Do you believe God has a sense of humor?  I know he does!