It's no secret that marriage is downright HARD at times. A lifetime of, well, Lifetime movies has left us with huge expectations, but the reality is that we're all married to imperfect people. And like it or not, so are our spouses. But when it's done right, marriage is also incredibly BEAUTIFUL!
You may recall that I've had the incredible privilege to be a part of the launch team for Darlene Schacht's newest book, Messy Beautiful Love. As such, I've had the opportunity to read the book before it is released and I can promise you it is well worth the time to read it! It's so refreshing to find a marriage book that is goes into the messy places and gets brutally honest.
The book starts with an example of a completely broken, messy marriage and the transformation that followed. It goes on to explore what a beautiful marriage looks like and how we can work towards living out Christ's example of love.
A marriage is at its most beautiful when both partners are operating in their roles as demonstrated by Christ's relationship with the church. A husband is to lead and love his wife and a wife is to respect and submit to her husband. (Now, I know the "s" word brings up a lot of hot emotions, but you can read more about biblical submission in the book.) I personally love the example of Peter, the disciple who swore he would always be loyal to Jesus, only to deny even knowing him when things got hard. In the same way, I believe we go into marriage truly intending to be loyal to the end, but then things get hard. We don't take our vows lightly, but oftentimes, life take turns that we couldn't expect.
One particular passage stuck with me, especially for my mission here at Life of a Trooper Wife.
"The world is doing a great job of making your husband feel like a failure already; he doesn't need to hear it from you. What he does need to hear is that he is valued, loved, appreciated and respected for the man that he is."
This is exactly the heart of this page. Our law enforcement heroes face nothing but hate every single day and it only seems to be getting worse. Most of us can't imagine facing the world the way these folks do. Now do you really think they want to spend an entire shift being targeted, hated, spit on, cussed at only to come home and be nagged by their spouses?
Each chapter outlines a different aspect of biblical marriage and closes with a challenge. I'm the kind of girl who needs a plan always. So having these specific challenges is wonderful! It takes the book beyond ideas and helps you put it into action. I've been on a mission the last few weeks to eliminate nagging in my marriage and this book has been a huge tool in working toward my goal. Obviously, I'll never reach perfection and I can promise I'll always have negative days, just like anyone else. Because life is messy. But when I commit to reflecting godliness in my marriage, it's inevitable that we will both reap the benefits.
The principles in this book are so wonderfully backed by scripture and apply to you, regardless of your current status. If you're hoping to be married some day, a newlywed, have been married for 50 years or anywhere in between, you will be bless by this book. Take some time, read it, study it and apply it. You can order through Amazon or Barnes and Noble on September 16!
I hope that even one marriage can be refreshed by the truths in Messy Beautiful Love! I'm praying over each of you, that you'd find the encouragement that you need in these pages!
As a special treat, we're giving away a copy of Messy Beautiful Love to one of our lovely readers! If you're already a fan of Life of a Trooper Wife on Facebook, you've already earned one entry! For bonus entries, refer a friend! Just invite your friends to "like" us on Facebook and earn an additional entry for each one! Just send a Facebook message or email and tell us which friends you invited! Entries will be open until Saturday, September 20 and the winner will be announced first thing Monday morning, the 22nd!
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**I was provided a copy of this book to promote, but was not compensated for my review.**
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