A Twisted Funny Bone

   A sense of humor is a gift.  The ability to laugh at oneself is a treasure.  Sometimes it's something that doesn't come naturally and one has to make the choice to see the silver lining.
   I am one such person that has to work at seeing the humor of certain situations; such as when I make an ox of myself in public.  I'm getting better at laughing at myself and letting it go.  I'm not completely there yet, but I'm choosing to remember that, while those around me think I may have lost my mind, Jesus still thinks I'm precious.
   My sense of humor is unique.  I sometimes, and I'm not proud of this, laugh when people get hurt.  I know!  It's terrible, but my relief that they are all right takes the outlet of laughter.
   I will never forget rolling on the grass laughing at my niece after she had fallen down the front porch steps.  When you write it out like that it sounds so... harsh and terrible, but she looked so funny tumbling down the steps and I was so relieved that she wasn't hurt.  (Relax it was only 3 steps!)
   When my husband and I were dating, he was driving the four-wheeler at a decent rate of speed and talking to me on the cell phone. He suddenly went, "Ooooomph".
   "What happened?" I asked.
   "A bug hit me in the eye."  He replied.
   "Are you Ok?" I questioned, trying to swallow a laugh.
   In a strained and somewhat pained voice, "Yeah, I'm just trying to get the guts out of my eye."
   At this point I lost it.  Yes, I know, I have a warped sense of humor.  Even now as I write this, I am sitting here giggling!  I can remember the tone of his voice and the way he said it.
   Seriously though, I'm not a nasty person that likes to see people get hurt.  When there's a lot of blood or broken bones, that doesn't strike my funny bone.  That's serious and I'm usually busy trying to stay calm.
   When I was 18, I moved from my home state to a neighboring state.  I was amazed and still am at the difference that there is in people and their sense of humor.  It's funny (no pun intended)...(ok, so maybe a little pun was intended) how people who have grown up together just seem to understand each other.
   Being a transplant was/is kind of difficult.  It used to bother me a great deal that some people just don't seem to "get" my sense of humor.  I don't seem to be able to understand their sense of humor either.  Some tend to take me seriously when I'm just teasing.  I take them seriously when they were just joking.  At home this wasn't really an issue.  I had spent nearly my whole life with my school family and they just knew me.  All the bad and the good, they accepted me just as I accepted them.
   My sense of humor, as I stated before, is a tad twisted.  Sometimes I grouse about things intending to get a laugh.  This doesn't go over well in some circles.  At home my family would be laughing at me and egging me on.  My sister has a similar sense of humor as do my nieces.  We get together and have a glorious time sparring.  My one niece is a true piece of work!  She is SO much fun to pick on!  The first time my husband heard us going at it, he was appalled and took me aside to give me a talking to.  I told him that it's just how we are.  Over the years, he has now taken to picking on me in a similar way because, "it's so much fun to see you get all bothered."  (Can you tell the man loves me?)
   Anyway, I used to think that there was something deeply wrong with me because I just couldn't seem to "get" the sense of humor of some around me.  As I get older, I'm able to let it go.  I know what I meant, and trying to figure out what others are thinking is completely pointless and only gives me a gut ache.  I have decided to thank God for the sense of humor He has blessed me with and continue laughing!  It's such a blessing to be able to see humor in situations that would otherwise make one cry.  I'm not completely able to do that, but God is bringing me to a place of gratitude, and there I find laughter!  May God bring you, my friend, to that place where joy abounds!