Funny Lady

与有信仰的女性同行，作家兼幽默作家玛丽莲·梅伯格的“笑疗法”

From Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York, to Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California, coliseums coast-to-coast 经常有成千上万的女人来这里欢笑，哭泣，庆祝生活.

Known for her storytelling, Marilyn Meberg has shed optimism from Iowa to South Africa. 她开始在家里鼓励妇女参加社区的圣经学习.

她们组成了世界上最大的妇女组织之一——信仰妇女组织(WoF). 听众们聆听的是当代基督教音乐艺术家和一群因直言不讳和幽默风趣而备受喜爱的演讲者. Among them is author and humorist Marilyn Meberg, the 2005 Seattle Pacific University Alumna of the Year.

每年有30个周末，梅伯格让观众们笑得合不拢嘴， practicing what admirers call “laughter therapy.” In the nine years since she helped launch the organization, WoF has welcomed a combined audience of more than 2.5 million. 其中超过10%的女性选择成为基督徒是因为WoF的事工.

作为一名有执照的治疗师，Meberg对自己的称呼没有任何问题 a “shrink.她是好的赌博软件推荐1961届的一员，拥有英语硕士学位 Cal State Fullerton and psychology from Pepperdine. 然而，WoF的队友Luci Swindoll说，让她表现得像个 professional is next to impossible.

想想他们在新西兰开着租来的 沙丘车穿过内陆，他们的头被撞得粉碎 helmets. Meberg at the wheel, Swindoll riding shotgun, they 从一个驼峰飞到另一个小丘”，就像《好的赌博软件推荐》一样,” both of them laughing uncontrollably.

It was either that or a kiwi fruit farm tour. Meberg says it was no contest. “If it weren’t for God’s sovereignty and my sense of humor, I could get quite anxious about my life,” she explains. 通过大量的书籍、出版的采访和现场演讲， her passion to heal with humor flows like quicksilver.

Her newest book, God at Your Wit’s End, is scheduled to release in February. “这是赌博十大靠谱软件这样一个事实，当你背靠着墙, God hears the cry and delivers you from all distress,” says Meberg, now age 65. “我丈夫死得太早了，赌博十大靠谱软件失去了一个15天大的孩子——我哭了. God meets us at the shredding place. He always delivers us. 你可以没有巧克力过一天，但你不能没有希望过一天.”

Her mettle formed early. 尽管她说她“古怪”的父亲和九个同样“古怪”的兄弟姐妹一起长大, Meberg was an only child. How does she explain that? With suspicion tingeing every word, she says, “我的父母告诉我，了解我是一件很棒的事情, they decided not to try again.”

A rural Methodist minister in southwestern Washington, her 当他成年的女儿最终加入时，父亲吓坏了 the Presbyterian Church. Not that he didn’t see it coming. Her favorite 舅妈，他的妹妹，有她自己独特的个性. 即使到了100岁，“阿姨”仍然坚持开车，尽管她的驾照被吊销了. To her niece, she was an inspiration.

As was Seattle Pacific. She was Marilyn Ricker then, and a 入学一年后，有一年她看上了一个年轻人 her senior, Ken Meberg. “I was in choir my sophomore year, and he was choir president,” says Meberg, who thought Ken was funny and gregarious. 他们很快发现，笑声是他们之间最牢固的纽带之一.

“But marriage was another matter,” she says. “It seemed so restrictive to me. I broke my engagement to Ken twice before dear Dr. 梅尔·福尔曼抚慰了赌博十大靠谱软件，最终让赌博十大靠谱软件走到了一起. Seattle Pacific was a wonderful environment 为了知识的探索和精神的成长. There was no enforcing or spoon-feeding. It not only expanded my mind, it challenged how I did life.”

她对西雅图太平洋最美好的回忆之一是， 肯和另外三对夫妇邀请了妇女学院院长玛丽·霍洛韦尔 to join them for pizza. They kept her out so late that the dean was in violation of dorm curfew. “她是一位非常非常可爱的女士，”梅贝格说，丝毫没有后悔的意思.

这位心理学专业的学生转到英语专业是为了成为 a teacher and support Ken through graduate school. They married 养育了两个孩子，儿子杰夫和女儿贝丝，他们说 他们记得和父母在一起的生活基本上是愉快的.

At times, it was hard for the kids to fall asleep because of 频繁的模仿拙劣电视节目的晚间杂耍晚会 lists. Dad played the piano deliberately off-key and mom loudly sang “Precious Memories,” equally off-key. The guests roared.

然后是Meberg的健康食品计划，要求孩子们早上参加“维生素排队”.她的丈夫用她不太成功的烤有机小麦面包做脚凳.

“We learned how to have good, clean fun,” says Beth, now a mother of two and a consulting child therapist, 在俄亥俄州的学校里为有情绪问题的孩子工作的人.

“他们说你要娶你妈妈，”杰夫补充道，他负责回收和出售被污染的房产. “My wife and my mom get along so well. They’re people persons, not great cooks, 我想他们俩都没见过熨衣板.”

Meberg raised her children to be as independent as she. 贝丝是一名民主党人，尽管她的父母是“顽固的共和党人”.” Both brother and sister support Meberg’s ministry, but Jeff disagrees with Mom on the ordination of women. She’s all for it; he objects on theological grounds. Yet family solidarity is the rule. 贝丝和杰夫参加过几次WoF会议，他们无法想象他们的母亲除了鼓励之外还有什么人 they believe she was meant to be.

Meberg与她的观众建立联系是因为她有能力 see both the serious and the quirky sides of life. “她疯狂而有趣，对充实的每一天都有很好的把握,” says Swindoll, sister of popular radio pastor Chuck Swindoll. “She’s not some Jesus freak, but more than almost anyone on the Women of Faith team, she loves the ministry. People want to be with her. Because she sees the humor in life, others around her say, ‘Well, maybe things aren’t so bad after all.’”

Meberg taught English at Biola University for 10 years, 婚后又做了十年的私人律师 and family counselor. She believes strongly in lifting burdens and helping the unchurched see how beautiful faith is. “我想让人们听到，上帝为他们疯狂，并下令 a way to have their load lifted,” she says.

她从个人经历中汲取教训，帮助他人. When Ken died of cancer after 29 years of marriage, Meberg struggled for perspective. But their shared laughter, which 帮助他们渡过艰难的道路，支撑着她 does now.

校友会主任道格·泰勒认为梅伯格的迷人， sense of fun, 以及对校友的深刻理解吸引了负责为所有SPU校友挑选合适代表的委员会. 他说:“她是如此的让人放下防备，让上帝进来。. “能让你同时又哭又笑的人并不多.”

当Meberg讲述这个故事时，WoF的观众笑到哭 晚上，她邀请斯文道尔和她一起去药房. 梅伯格想把她过去常开的高尔夫球车开走 加州棕榈沙漠的住宅社区，尽管她 friend pointed out that it was hardly “street ready.“他们会坚持走小路，”梅伯格说，“然后蹒跚而行。. 一切都很顺利，直到回程时，马车在街上抛锚了.

借着马车的前灯，梅伯格用斯文多尔的手机给汽车协会打了电话. “Before long, 一辆有房子那么大的18轮拖车来了，把车像回形针一样吊起来,” Swindoll recalls. At Meberg’s driveway, the truck snorted backward 在响亮的警告哔哔声中，他把车开进车库，女人们纷纷从驾驶室里出来, laughing. The neighbors poured from their houses to gawk, and the two fast friends had another gem for the telling.

“这就是Mare做事的方式，”Swindoll说，这是她对Marilyn的爱称. 她知道悲剧和麻烦之间的区别.

— BY CLINT KELLY

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