15 Reasons We Are Happily Married

We all need some cheering up and good news these days. One of our friends, who can always help us smile, is the bestselling author, Phil Callaway.  He just released a fabulous book, Laugh Like a Kid Again.

Here is our endorsement:

We have a happy long -lasting marriage of 40 years. Often people ask us, “What is the key to your marital bliss?”. Our answer is pretty concise, “Take God seriously but do not take yourselves so seriously– laugh together OFTEN! ” Yes, our secret is to cultivate comedy because it keeps your heads above water in the stormy  sea of life. Perhaps a better word picture is laughing releases those happy endorphins so it is more like humor is the tow rope that raises your heart and life out of the waves on to the wake-board of life– and Phil Callaway is the high powered motor boat of hilarity that will make you giggle, chuckle and laugh out loud in delightful side-splitting  joy!. We are in a season of heavy responsibility and Phil‘s humor has once again been our lifeline of hope and happiness.

Pam and Bill Farrel, authors of over 50 books including bestselling Men Are Like Waffles,Women Are Like Spaghetti  and Red Hot Monogamy

And enjoy this heart-warming excerpt of Laugh Like a Kid Again:

When people find out I’ve been married to the same girl for 37 years in a
row, they smile and sometimes applaud. But I did just about everything
wrong in the early days. I was selfish. And this was before we discovered
how to spell Wii with two I’s. I was cheap. So cheap that I got after my bride
for only squeezing one cup of tea from a teabag. “You can do better,” I said.
“My mother (which is a great way to start a sentence) used to use the same
teabag for weeks. Then she’d make soup with it. And salad. Then we’d floss
with the string. Then my friends and I would smoke the leftovers.”

How have we stayed stuck all these years? I learned to avoid saying:
“You have too many shoes already.” “Crying is blackmail.” “Shopping is not
a sport.” “Honey, the playoffs are on, can we talk about this during the ads?”
I learned to never eat garlic unless she does. To go ahead and laugh.
Even when she says, “You want breakfast in bed? Sleep in the kitchen.” I
learned to say, “I made some mutton curry with oregano. I hope that sounds
okay.”

Most nights I read to her. One of my books. What a blessing!
She doesn’t show me bills until I’ve eaten. We love when we don’t feel
like it. We look for the good in each other. And always find it. Every single
day I say to myself, “I can’t believe she married me.”

In time I came to discover that one of the greatest marriage savers
doesn’t cost a thing and only takes 5 or 10 minutes a day. Every night we
pick up an ancient book and read it together. We read things like,

“Clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and
patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who
offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect
harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

If we absorb such truths, the Bible never leaves us where it finds us.
Like nothing else, reading its truths and praying together has
transformed our marriage, brought us contagious joy, and provided a
foundation to weather the storms.

Keeping the romance alive helps too.

Tonight I can’t wait to see what she does when I say, “Hey! Let’s go buy you some shoes.”