Humor

This comes under "embracing people" and loving your neighbor as yourself. Otherwise it's totally random.

Humor is an interesting topic, especially working with kids. There's an age when your kids will bring home every bad joke in the book (4th grade?) and they're SO excited. It does eventually come to an end, though I probably won't be able to convince you until it's over. I don't know what developmental stage it is but it's significant.

I don't know what you think is funny and what not funny. Ran across this site reading the UltraRev. I don't remember how I came across UltraRev. ECC blogs - upstate NY? Don't know.

On one of his posts he refers to crummy church signs saying, "Messages on church signs aren't as cute or funny to the unchurched as churches think they are." True. I took a look. It ties into language and how people understand one another (connotation and denotation). A comment that comes across positive (or even funny) to one person might mean something really negative (even offensive) to the person listening. We won't always get it right and we'll never please everyone all the time or even anyone all the time. Years ago, we took our kids to a Christian Bible camp recommended to us. I was so appalled at the "humorous" skits we saw. I couldn't put my finger on why but I left offended. Maybe it's not caring that bothers me.

I do truly believe that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I stick my foot down my heart often. An inevitable embarrassing wake up call.

The joy of the Lord is more than just humor, yet I believe that God has a wonderful intelligent sense of humor. I believe that laughter is good medicine. I doubt God's easily offended. Yet, the scriptures tell us that there are things that offend Him. The scriptures tell us He laughs and He gets angry. Are there things that make Him smile?

Sometimes we teach kids by example. Perhaps, more often without realizing, we teach them that something is ok because we don't do anything about it. My kids get upset when people poke fun at other people groups and "don't mean it." The question that came up was, "W0uld you still say that if they were sitting here?" When they speak up, it creates friction between them and their friends. But the only way anyone will know it matters to them is if they say something.

Talk to me about humor and working with kids and what you encourage and what you don't. Kids need to laugh and have fun. We all need to laugh and have fun. What's funny and what isn't?