"Skip-a-dee-doo-dah"

Ok, I am about to date myself and at the same time reveal just how country I am. I was driving home the other day and for some reason had the radio dialed to a Country Oldies station. I have always listened to country music and really did put peanuts in my coke, just like Barbara Mandrell sang about in the early 1980s. I went barefoot, ate watermelons straight from the field, and ate bologna sandwiches on white bread, moon pies and Miracle Whip sandwiches for snacks.

Unfortunately, I can go back even further than Barbara Mandrell in the early 80s. I can go all the way back to 1972 and Donna Fargo. So, when her 1972 hit, “The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA,” came on the radio, I sang right along with her and didn’t miss a word of the lyrics.

After the song ended, my brain started processing happiness. I began creating a list of the things in life that bring out my happy feelings and take me to my happy place. Of course family and friends topped the list, but I filtered the given and started thinking about the little things; those things that bring a smile to my face and make me laugh. I thought about fireflies, puppies, purses, shoes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, watching college football (as long as my Razorbacks are winning), chocolate milk, wild flowers, rushing streams, jumping in the lake, sitting with my toes in the water, watching old television shoes like Dragnet, Adam 12, and Hawaii Five-O, ice cream cones, Sunday drives and listening to it rain on a tin roof.

The timing of the song can only be described as a “God thing.” Just let me say…it has been a long seven days! My car has been in the shop since last Thursday because rats ate through the electrical wiring, the water pump died and there was a coolant leak. The air conditioner at home decided to go out on the exact same day. I suffered through the three digit temperatures until a new unit was installed Sunday afternoon, but my car is still in the shop. And believe it or not, I was able to remain remarkably calm and maintain a fairly optimistic outlook. Each time I thought about having a pity party, and let me say, I could have had several of them, I would stop and sing the line in Fargo’s song: “I’m the happiest girl in the whole USA.”

One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is the one of him with his head thrown back in laughter. It reassures me that God enjoys a good laugh every now and then. That picture also reminds me of Mike Dooley’s thoughts about the fun loving nature of God. Dooley writes, “God prefers to go barefoot, laughs a lot and is always happy. Loves orange, wears blue jeans and has read every book ever written. Skips stones, plays in the rain and rocks out. Remembers birthdays, forgets arguments and every day visualizes me smiling even more.” God is truly a God of joy and laughter.

Happiness is a state of being. It is a choice and I am in control of embracing my state of happiness. I keep a quote by Martha Washington taped to my computer screen that reads: “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”

I am the only one that can make me happy. I am the only one that can willingly share my happiness with others. I am the only one who can share the happiness that Christ brings. I am the only one that can make it a Skip-a-dee-doo-dah day and claim the title of “happiest girl in the whole USA.”

Judith Bell 8/5/10
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