Let the Good Times Roll

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

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All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15 (ESV)

Take a second and think about the best relationship you currently have. Now take another second to think about how that relationship started. I am willing to bet there was some laughter built in there somewhere. The fun and early times are often our most favorite memories in relationships. Laughter has an infectious attraction that few experiences can rival. I met my wife in the Spring of 2008. Now, I didn’t know much about dating (although I thought was an expert, of course), but I did know how to make a girl laugh. My wife picked up on my cheesy personality right away and exploited it to its full potential. Truth be told, I think she felt sorry for me because I was really lame. But thankfully, for some reason, she thought lame was cute. She told me that her dad was quite the prankster as well and she wanted to play a joke on him. I told her to wrap a rubber band around the spray nozzle next to the faucet in the sink, that way when her dad turned on the sink, it would spray him in the face... it worked like a charm! How many of you are now going to go home and try that one out? I pinpoint this as the moment I effectively won her heart.

Proverbs 15:15 says, “All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.” Why do you think the writer of Proverbs says this? Because perspective is so important. Two people can be going through the same situation and come out with completely different attitudes.

It’s incredible how important cheerfulness, laughter and joy can be in our life. It is one of the Fruits of the Spirit. We sometimes get so busy and caught up in life we forget to take time to laugh or be cheerful.

So, the question you might have is, “How can I keep any relationship fun and thriving without failing into the trap of monotony?” Here is what I would tell you: Be intentional about bringing joy into the relationship. Let me break it down into dumb-guy English… say this to your phone: “Hey Siri, remind me this time every month to plan something fun for my spouse.” (If that doesn’t work...try replacing the first few words with “hey google”). Seriously though, we have technology today that can really help us out! I had a friend who was a service member and he took some very self-destructive actions a few years ago. I have a reminder in my phone that goes off every month reminding me to encourage him and have done so for the last four years.