I had so much fun at our game night last Sunday! I got my very own Bingo card to play, I got to have my favorite meal — hot dogs with chili— for supper, and I even won a prize! I won an air freshener that looks like a tree. Mr. Robert said something about it giving me a “new dog smell” But I don’t really think I smell all that bad. We were going to hang it around my collar, but it made Miss Julie sneeze so Mr. Robert put it in his car. 

But the best part of the evening was listening to everybody having a good time! There was a lot of laughing going on around the tables and it made me happy to hear it. 

I bet it made God happy too. I think he likes to hear us laugh and have fun together. It’s a different kind of worship.

I think Jesus probably laughed a lot. He spent a lot of time with kids and kids love to have fun, so I bet he laughed with them. He would probably have laughed more if he had a dog, because we can be a lot of fun.  And I think maybe if Jesus had come to game night he would have played with us and had as much fun as we did. 

Laughter is good for us. Games are good for us. Grownups forget to have fun, I guess because there are so many serious things to think about in the world. But taking time to play and laugh takes that away for a while. 

I found out that experts say laughing is healthy. Laughter strengthens your immune system and is good for your heart. It eases physical pain, gives your mood a boost, and relieves stress, which is bad for you in every way! 

I learned that people have played games practically since there were people to play them. Lots of American Indian tribes had games, like lacrosse, stickball, and archery contests. People still play those today. Their games here supposed to teach kids skills they would need to be warriors. 

A game that dates back 7,000 years was discovered in Europe but nobody knows how it was played. Another really old one was found in the Persian Gulf, and it’s nearly 5000 years old. It was a board game, with a board and pieces that players moved around it. That one is in a museum in London. Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Romans played games too. As people moved around the world and met people from other cultures, games got shared.  

I think that’s  the best thing about playing games. Games bring people together. Everybody laughs. 

Everybody around the whole world laughs. We all laugh in the same language.  I think it’s important to figure out the stuff we all have in common, instead of arguing over ways we’re different.  

Let’s have some fun!