Week 20: Jokes & Juxtaposition

Fun Activity This Week:  Put a jigsaw puzzle together!  If you do not have any, or you do not enjoy puzzles, find something else to do together that challenges your brains and causes you to work in juxtaposition with one another.

 

Week 20: Jokes & Juxtaposition

 

Jokes:  In week twelve, I wrote about having fun.  Another layer to having fun is being able to joke with one another. Mel and I have a great many jokes between us.  Our sense of humor is nearly identical, and I love that I can be comfortable enough with him to be a total goofball.  No matter what we are going through, there is always plenty of laughter in our home. 

I know that not all marriages enjoy such frivolity.  Whether it is because they grew up in a humorless household and were never taught to loosen up or have been through so much tragedy that joking around seems a luxury they cannot afford, or maybe he/she is simply lacking a sense of humor.  However, if the problem can be remedied, then I say try, or seek counseling if one or both of you are so depressed you cannot make an effort to laugh. 

Use this week to lighten up and find humor in life.  When I was a police dispatcher and later a veterinary technician, there were often situations where one had to laugh or fall apart.  My colleagues and I usually chose the latter.  Laughing when you feel like crying can actually be healthier as you learn to face the tough situations with a more positive attitude rather than crumbling.  I am not dismissing or diminishing grief. I can say this based on personal experience, it is okay to give yourself permission to laugh even while grieving.  Being able to see the silver lining can make it easier to cope.

A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22

 

Juxtaposition:  I will admit, the reason I chose this word for the letter J was merely that I think it is an enjoyable-sounding word; I was not certain how I would use it.  I always thought if people or items were in juxtaposition to each other, they were merely in relation to one another.  When I looked up the dictionary definition of juxtapose it states, “to situate side by side; place together.”  I knew then exactly how to approach this amusing word.

Just as God made Eve for Adam (Genesis 2), He also made you and your mate for one another.  You were “placed together” with your other half for a very specific purpose.

One of the things Mel and I love to do is to read a book aloud together (or have the Kindle read for us or listen to an audio book).  We are both history buffs, and we have a collection of autobiographies and biographies of historical figures.  While I was writing this entry, we had just finished reading the biography of Pierre and Marie Currie written by their daughter Eve.  Pierre and Marie were so perfectly made for one another; their upbringings, ambitious intelligence, and love of physics were all remarkably similar.  While Marie (also known to many as Madam Currie) is the more recognized name, it was working many long hours with her much beloved husband that brought about the discovery of both polonium and radium.  Together, they accomplished life-saving feats for science and medicine.  While it could be argued that alone one of them may have achieved such triumph, I choose to believe their successes came because they worked so beautifully as a team.   

God placed you in juxtaposition with your soul mate for a specific purpose as well.  Perhaps it is to raise wonderful Godly children.  You may be meant to minister together teaching Sunday school or a home Bible study, working at a soup kitchen, or building orphanages.  As with the Curries, you may also be of one brilliant mind and, as a team, do great things that help save lives.  Whatever it is, do it all for the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31), and you will always be blessed.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  Ecclesiastes 4:9

 

Marriage-Enhancing Ideas for the Week: 

 

Jokes: Take time out this week to laugh over clean jokes.  You could even buy or borrow a book of clean jokes, even if you have to shop in the kid’s section!

Art Project Option: Create a booklet titled something similar to, “Funny Bone Lane” (as in taking a trip down such lane).  Remember how you made the booklets in weeks 1 and 11, follow the same concept.  On your paper squares, write as many funny memories as you can think of.  Make certain you leave plenty of blank pages at the end to fill in new events.  Illustrate it, use stickers, or just your words.  When you have a nice stack, punch holes in the sides, and tie it together.  You can work on this together and each make suggestions or one of you can make it as a surprise gift.  Read it together when finished and enjoy a time of laughing so hard it will make you cry!  P.S.  This booklet is great therapy when one or both of you are having a blue day.  When I was down, I got out the one I made for Mel, and by the time I had finished reading it, my frown had been turned upside-down!  

 

Juxtaposition:  Celebrate how alike you are this week.  Find something to do together that you both enjoy.  If you are history buffs, go to a museum (or an online museum tour).  If you love music, go to a concert or take up lessons for a new (or familiar) instrument together.  Love sports, play one of them together, or take up a new hobby such as tennis.  Love to cook, take classes together or make a special dinner together (don’t forget dessert).  You get the idea!  The point is not to enjoy your similar interests alone, but in juxtaposition to your partner!