The 50 Fridays Marriage Challenge by Jeff and Lora Helton

My husband and I have had a lot of fun reading this book.  We have been married for almost 8 years and we still learned new things about each other by using this book as a springboard for our discussions.  My husband is rather quiet (I tell him he has a word quota that he allows himself each day), so it's been a good way for us to open up and really talk.  Add in the busyness of 2 small kids, we needed some intentional, relationship-building conversation going on. 

 

Since I was reading this book for review, I did these questions everyday for 2 weeks.  Some days, I would flip through and ask other questions along with the original one we had discussed.  It's actually made so that you talk about one question every Friday...hence the 50 Fridays question.

 

Each Friday starts with a Challenge question.  Some of the questions are harder to answer than others and require some thought.  I love how it tackles the good things, the bad things (like disagreements, things that each of you could change in certain areas), and the comfortable/uncomfortable things.

 

There's a short chapter (like 1 page if it was condensed) that you can read together or separately.  We read it together.  It was a nice way for us to end our work week together, since the week tends to be incredibly stressful and hit or miss sometimes because of work obligations, etc. 

 

I'm planning to revisit this book and I think I just might be getting this for anniversaries of close friends or even for wedding presents.  I mean, who doesn't want a great marriage that reflects Christ?!  I want my children to see Christ when they look at our marriage and that takes effort and conversation....even when we're exhausted.  Thanks for the very helpful marriage resource!

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I received this book free from Howard Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

 

 

Fight Your Way to a Better Marriage by Dr. Greg Smalley

I really enjoy reading marriage books and learning new ideas to implement into my marriage.  My husband and I don't fight a lot, but this book was full of tips that I found very insightful and helpful.  I have heard people tell others that if they have a lot of conflict in their marriage, then there's trouble.  This book debunks that truth. In fact, conflict is not only important, but it's going to happen.  We can choose how we are going to resolve the problems though and what attitude we will take in resolving it.

If I had to pick a favorite chapter, it would be the chapter called "Lies Written on Your Heart."  Satan loves to tell us lies in our marriages and it was encouraging to read a few that I know Satan has wanted me to believe.  Another great chapter was the L.U.V.E. Talk chapter.  It was so good to hear how we sometimes invalidate our spouses even if we don't mean to.

This is a book for both healthy marriages and those that are struggling.  It would also be a great gift or premarital counseling book, in my opinion.

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I received this book free from Howard Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

What a Difference a Mom Makes by Dr. Kevin Leman

Dr. Leman has managed to be well-represented on my bookshelves.  I have found all of his books extremely helpful and encouraging when it comes to parenting.  Having read many of his books, I was thrilled to read this book.  This one hit me at just the right time because I had been having some difficulty with my firstborn, just turned 4-year-old son.  I was needing not only encouragment but some guidance and assurance that what I thought was a power play, really was just that.

 

This book was very special to me since it is all about a mom's relationship with her son.  I loved how he reminded moms to let their boys be boys and not to force them to act like girls.  They can be loud and rough, but they can also learn to do many of the household things that need to be done, as well.  However, I need to remember to treat him like a boy who loves to be independent (within reason) and loves to please his mommy.  This book showed me the heart of the little boy within. I also liked how Dr. Leman wrote about how a mom chooses their future daughter-in-law by determining her type of relationship with her son.  That was eye-opening!  I want a good daughter-in-law who is thoughtful, loving, wise with words, and isn't controlling.  That means I need to work towards these things!  Glad to learn this now while he's 4!

 

I think all moms with sons need to read this book.  You will find it was time well-spent and you will see just how different that son of yours is from your daughter.  He apparently wrote a book on a daddy's relationship with his daugther, which I will be buying for my husband!

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I received this book free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.  Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

After All by Deborah Raney

This was a different kind of book for me.  It was very good and I had a hard time putting this book down.  It's hard to describe why the book felt different and was so enjoyable.  Maybe it was because the plot was more complex or perhaps it was the layout of the book.

Starting with the front cover, it made me want to pick it up.  As I was reading it, I loved the layout!  It was different than most books because it had quotes on one side at the beginning of each chapter.  Then it had a cute decoration on top of the chapter page.  It was very appealing to me as I was reading and it was something I had never stopped to really think about until I picked up this book.  The chapters were short, so it was easy to stop and start without losing my place or feeling like I needed to go back a few pages to remind myself of what had happened.

The story focuses on three people.  The first is Susan Marlowe.  Her husband was a firefighter and died fighting a fire at a homeless shelter that she had started.  It wasn't her fault but her husband and several other men and one woman never made it out of the fire.  They had problems in their marriage like the typical marriage, and had hardly seen each other, but Susan was convinced they still loved each other.  That changes when she receives some news about a secret that David, her husband, never told her.  Just as she was moving forward, the news makes her go back to the beginning of the grieving process again.

Andrea Morley is the second character.  She also lost someone in the fire, but she can't really express her sorrow about him.  After all, she's not really supposed to talk about him to anyone else.  Why is that?  Apparently she's attracted to people that she can't have...people like missionaries and military people or pretty much anyone who can't give her what she wants.  Oh, and married men should have been included on that list.  She wants to be married and have children, but she doubts that will ever happen now.  Will she come clean about her affairs or will she continue pursuing men that need to be left alone?

Peter Brennan is the last main character.  He is the fire chief who works almost all of the time.  He was responsible for the firefighters who died the night of the big fire.  He was also friends with Susan Marlowe and had heard of the rumor that Susan has just been informed of.  He has befriended Susan since her husband had died and is constantly trying to get over his guilt that something else could have been done to save the men.  He also just might fall in love with a woman who is passionate about something he is not.

This book is third book in the series.  I have never heard of or read any of the other books, but I plan to download the other two now.  I wasn't lost at all when it came to the characters but I'm curious to know who was carried over from previous books.  Deborah Raney is definitely an author that I'm adding to my favorites list.

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I received this book free from Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster in exchange for my honest opinion.