Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

-Psalm 126:2

In this blog we cover many serious topics. We’ve hit divorce, prayer, alone time with God, how to have a peaceful marriage, getting control of your finances, and many other areas.  But today let’s get serious…about not getting serious.

This Is How I Am

I have this tendency to apply humor in all manner of situations. At work, in church, in meeting new people, it really doesn’t matter. On the blog you don’t see it very often because I write in my “mentor voice”. That’s the one where I feel like I am imparting VERY important knowledge to others. I have to be careful with that or it will turn into my “conceited jerk voice” which I had for many years. But if you meet me out and about you’ll quickly discover I have difficulty being serious for more than 10-20 seconds.

The Value of Humor

Sally and I read from a devotional by Drs. Leslie and Les Parrott. In a recent entry they stated the following, “Any good friend will tell you that Laughter is the shortest distance between two people-and that’s especially true in marriage. - Leslie and Les Parrott Click To Tweet.” Shared humor is one of the most powerful ways to draw a couple closer together. As has been proven in studies and likely your own anecdotal evidence a sense of humor is incredibly important in relationships.

Shared Experiences Make for Shared Humor

We have been married now for over 23 years and are very focused on spending as much time together as possible. One of the side benefits of spending a lot of time together is that you will share many humorous experiences. We have a number of small phrases and quotes, sometimes given in particular accents or tones that will cause one or both of us to crack up. A couple of days ago we were watching a movie and during a serious scene I leaned over and threw one of those at her…and she giggled. Most likely she is the only person who would have gotten the joke, because of our shared experiences.

The Health of Your Marriage

In part, the health of your marriage is dependent on the level of shared humor. Get ready for a profound statement. You may need to read it twice. Here it is: If you aren’t having fun together then you aren’t having fun together.

The point is you need to intentionally plan times of fun. Some will be spontaneous but planning is sometimes necessary. Watch a funny movie or TV show. Maybe check out some comedy clips online. Go to a live humorous play. Get together with others and play board games. I have to tell you, when we play games with others we are often reduced to tears with the amount of laughter.

In short have more fun together and you will have a MUCH happier marriage!

Love you all!

-Troy