The Joy Of Comedy

2014. What a year it has been.
For me, tragedy is what has been defining my life this year. God has thrown many things at me this year that truly tested my faith. My faith however, is what has been made stronger through these tragedies of life. I will explain why after I tell you about the year.
You see, in January my grandfather, who I was very close to, died of a heart attack. He was an incredible man of God, and led his family in ways that I rarely see among others.
Then in March, the woman he had been married to for 67 years, also died. A stroke is what took her life, but I don't believe that was the only thing that took it. She died because her only reason for living left her 2 months before.
With the grandparents both passing in a matter of 2 months, I found it hard to get out of the sadness. I could not stop asking God why it had to end as it did. Couldn't he have made it easier for all of us?

In June, I had the opportunity of playing in the worship band at the church camp I've attended since 2nd grade. It had always been a dream of mine to play with the band, and on the first year of not being a camper, I got to do it. I could not have been more excited and happy. It was finally a highlight for the year.
During the week, on Wednesday to be exact, I received a call from a friend who broke more terrible news to me. He said that our friend Corey had just ended his own life with a 12 gauge shotgun.

While Corey was sitting in his pickup truck with that gun pointed in his face... where was God?

I struggled and struggled with that question, and to be completely honest, I still haven't figured out the answer. Will I ever figure it out? Maybe not.

I poured so much emotion, time, tears, breath, and thought into all the death that had happened around me, I never thought I would figure it all out. I thought I would be forever confused and depressed about everything. But now, I can happily say, I got it figured out.

I'm so happy about the horrible things that happened in my life this year.

How can we appreciate happiness with the sadness? How can we feel truly alive, if there's nothing to test our resolve. Sadness makes me feel human. The only possible way we can feel sadness, is if we have already felt extreme happiness. And we cannot feel happiness if we haven't experienced sadness. These tear-jerking deaths in my life will make the laughter-inducing situations all the better. It's beautiful.

Why did I wait until we were talking about Comedy to post this? Well first of all because I didn't want to talk about it at all. But I finally decided to open up, and reveal my thoughts because they seem so important to this class.
But I also feel like it is appropriate now because I want people to be happy with my post. I want people to see this and learn from my experience. The incredible thing is, God knew that I would eventually come to terms with it in the way I have. And now, through my tragedy, God can help others see that he created comedy and laughter as a way of making us feel human. I'm happy that God chose me, and put me through terrible things, in order to show his grace to everyone around me.
And I thank God for that every day.

My favorite film from Tuesday was "The Lunch Date"
Her laughter at the end illustrates how we all felt about her situation. And it showed me things aren't always what they seem.