For those jaded souls who believe that Valentine’s Day is a modern event most likely invented by Hallmark in a display of crass commercialism, please allow me to set your minds at ease. Valentine’s Day legends actually go back as far as the third century A.D. Mind you, those legends do not involve cute babies shooting harmless little arrows at people and thus making them fall in love with each other and get married. They mostly involve tales of martyrdom, which, as many formerly married people seem to be fond of saying, is somewhat similar to marriage.
But it does not have to be that way.
This coming March will be Dana and my 29th anniversary. I am not just married; I am deliriously happily married. After getting saved, getting married was the best thing I ever did. And as a man with nearly 30 years of wonderful marriage experience, I feel at least somewhat qualified to offer good advice to others coming up who are either looking to be married, soon to be married, recently married or even “been married a while but could sure use some help.” I do not claim to know it all, but I will at least assume the mantle of “amateur expert” for a few moments as I dispense wisdom to the masses.
Here goes, in no particular order.
1. Life is funny; treat it as such. Laughter is good for the soul, good for the home and good for the marriage. My wife and kids and I laugh a lot together. If you can go through a day at work or school or even church and not see things that are hysterical, you are not paying attention. And the most miserable families I know are the ones that believe that grumpiness is next to godliness. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Use that medicine liberally in your relationships.