A cheerful heart is good medicine,but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

While reading Leonie’s post I had to laugh at my own family. We have such a weird sense of humour. Sometimes, only we understand ourselves! But you know, I think that’s good…the way it should be.

Books and movies and experiences have shaped our sense of humour, our personalities, our reactions to things, our language and other things that make us tick. Yes, we are influenced by movies and books. That’s why it’s good to be particular and deliberate about the things we put before the children. But we can be as careful as can be yet without relationship, without giving of ourselves to each other, our family can be bland – devoid of fun, laughter and silliness. Yet often these are the ties that bind us to each other…they provide the backdrop for memories or traditions.

Sometimes I wake the children in the morning, loudly singing a silly song that I first heard many years ago on an old Christian film. One has to perform this song in an animated way or it just isn’t the same. Everytime I start the song, drawing out the first bar, the children wake up and start to groan- they know I won’t shush until I’ve gone through the whole song. 🙄 But it starts our morning off with a laugh. It sets the tone or atmosphere for the day.

I’ve loved seeing my children’s sense of humour develop as they mature. The sad part is that I have the least sense of humour. It takes me awhile to ‘get’ things, to make connections but I have a good belly laugh once it finally clicks. But I cannot for the life of me be funny! Maybe being funny is a gift. Maybe I don’t have that gift. My children do. My husband definitely does. I missed out on it. Oh well, I’m quite happy to accept that and be be content to just laugh at everyone else’s funniness.

What about you? What has shaped your family’s sense of humour? Do you consciously try to impart laughter into your day? What made you laugh today?