First Laugh

Katie Harvey, Storyteller Intern

​This year one of the new girl students brought her precious baby, Angel, with her. When they first came to MITS, Angel was so little one might think that she was a newborn. We estimated she was around 3 months old. Angel was born on the streets and lived there for the first few months. Because of this, she was extremely malnourished. I learned over the summer that when babies are malnourished, they can’t laugh a ‘normal’ laugh. Which made sense to me because sometimes I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. 

While Angel has been here I have seen her grow and become stronger. One night when I was at the girls' place for a bible study I was holding Angel while the girls were finishing dinner. I will never forget this night because it was the first time I heard her laugh! I was filled with JOY to hear this sound! This laugh meant so much.

This got me thinking about the joy that God must feel when we have our ‘firsts’. Sometimes we might face trials and fall off track with our relationship with God. We become malnourished from lack of His word in our life. We’re fighting to stay alive. To be rescued. Once we come back and have our “first laugh” with God, like reading the Bible, I can only imagine He is overwhelmed with JOY. He is joyous because His child is coming back to Him. 

So, I challenge you today if you feel like you haven’t laughed with God in a while, talk to Him. Say a prayer. A simple prayer. Open your Bible, read a passage that once moved something in you. Find your way back to God. He hasn’t gone anywhere!