Zondervan - Dont Stop Laughing Now!

Dont Stop Laughing Now!

stories to tickle your funny bone
and strengthen your faith

Books by Ann Spangler

Daily Secrets of the Christian Life, Hannah Whitall Smith (compiled by Ann Spangler)

Dont Stop Laughing Now! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Hes Been Faithful, Carol Cymbala with Ann Spangler

Help, I Cant Stop Laughing! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Look Whos Laughing! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Men of the Bible, coauthored with Robert Wolgemuth

Praying the Names of God

She Who Laughs, Lasts! selected by Ann Spangler

Women of the Bible, coauthored with Jean Syswerda

Women of the Bible: 52 Stories for Prayer and Reflection

Books by Shari MacDonald

A Match Made in Heaven

Dont Stop Laughing Now! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Help, I Cant Stop Laughing! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Humor for a Womans Heart, compiled by Shari MacDonald

Humor for the Heart, compiled by Shari MacDonald

Look Whos Laughing! selected by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald

Love on the Run

The Perfect Wife

ZONDERVAN

Dont Stop Laughing Now!
Copyright 2002 by Ann Spangler

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86174-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dont stop laughing now! : stories to tickle your funny bone and strengthen your faith / compiled by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-23996-3
1. Religion Humor. 2. Conduct of life Humor. I. Spangler, Ann.
II. MacDonald, Shari
PN6231 .R4 H45 2001
818 .60208 dc21

2001005381

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked LB are from the Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Contents

Chapter One: Psst... Has Anyone Seen
a Table I Can Crawl Under?

Im Surrounded by Teens with Uncommon Scents
by Marti Attoun

Chapter Six: Animal Antics:
Weird Humor from the Animal Kingdom

And Her Husband Thought He Had a Stressful Job
by Phil Callaway

Young Love Turns Daughter into Teen Cleaning Machine
by Marti Attoun

A Fun Day Composting with Martha Stewart
by Chonda Pierce

Never Underestimate the Power of an Imperfect Woman
by Karen Scalf Linamen

I Could Lose Myself in Thought, but Then Again,
Its Such Unfamiliar Territory by Sue Buchanan

We want to thank Sandy VanderZicht, executive editor at Zondervan, for her support for this book as well as for its predecessor, She Who Laughs, Lasts! In both cases her insightful commentary has resulted in a stronger and, we hope, funnier book. Thanks to Dirk Buursma and Rachel Boers for their care in editing the manuscript. Thanks also to Steve Arterburn and Mary Graham of Women of Faith and to Thelma Wells, Sheila Walsh, Luci Swin-doll, Marilyn Meberg, Barbara Johnson, and Patsy Clairmont for dispensing so much real wisdom and joy at Women of Faith Conferences throughout the country. Special thanks to Sara Wachtel for relating the story retold by Shari MacDonald in When in Rome. We also wish to acknowledge with gratitude the publishers and individuals who gave permission to reprint the material that follows.

Frenzied, fearful, frazzled, frustrated if these words all too frequently describe your state of mind, you are not alone. The world has suddenly become a much different place than the one we have taken for granted all our lives. We long for our sense of peace to be restored, for our safety to be assured. We pray with greater fervor than ever that God will bless our country and draw us near to him in humility and trust.

Ultimately, we know that our future rests in the hands of the God who is in complete control of the universe no matter how shaky our world may seem. This book wont tell you everything you need to know in order to restore a sense of peace and trust to your life. It wont teach you anything about prayer, which, of course, is essential to both trust and peace. But it will offer you something you may need right now, this very minute an enjoyable break from everything difficult, stressful, and challenging in your life.

Dont Stop Laughing Now! is the sequel to She Who Laughs, Lasts! Like its predecessor, it is a collection of some of the funniest stories, quips, and jokes around, written by men and women who are doing their best to respond to lifes challenges with faith and hope.

As we were completing work on this book, we received a letter from a reader of She Who Laughs, Lasts! that further confirmed our sense that women, even women of faith, need to lighten up and find ways to take themselves a little less seriously. Tammy MacKay is a self-proclaimed overachiever with a nice sense of humor. Well let her tell you about her life in her own words:

Ive just finished reading She Who Laughs, Lasts! and I am still chuckling to myself. Believe me when I tell you it was much needed soul food. I have been feeling so empty the last few months, completely overwhelmed as a single mom of three beautiful yet very energetic boys, ages four, six, and nine. I am a nursing student preparing to enter my clinical portion of schooling, am working three jobs, and am on call to my patients whenever they need someone to talk to. Recently, three of my patients died; several others are suffering from terminal cancer. My pager goes off constantly as friends and patients know I am the strong one, always willing to lend an ear or offer a prayer.

Additionally, I am on every committee known to man. I am secretary of the PTO and chairperson of the school fun fair. I help with the church nursery and the church ground-skeeping. I also make sure my three sons get to hockey games, Boy Scouts, birthday parties, and so on. At one point when my nine-year-old son asked to have a couple of hockey friends over for a sleepover and couldnt decide which ones, what did good ol Mom say? Honey, just invite the whole team! It will be fun! By 3:00 A.M. the next morning, with all thirteen kids still awake and having already consumed groceries that cost as much as the national debt, I knew I had lost my sanity.