Kregel Publications (January 18, 2012) 240 pages
About the book:
The Beautiful Wife uses these inspiring stories along with biblical principles to guide and encourage any wife looking for God's best in her marriage. The Beautiful Wife answers serious questions women have about their roles as wives. Discussing everything from romance and money to beauty, communication, and sex, Sandy challenges women to open up and share their journeys so that together they can see God's plan for their marriages. "It is my passion to help women discover God's heart for their marriage, just as the other women helped me," writes Sandy. "When women share with each other the details of their journeys with God as wives, it's a beautiful thing indeed." The Beautiful Wife has two companion resources - Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide.
My Thoughts:
I rarely ever post my thoughts on a book without actually finishing it, but I haven't finished reading The Beautiful Wife
. I am loving it so far! It's exactly what I need to be reading right now, and I'm getting a great deal out of it! Unless things take a drastic turn, I can already tell this is one of my favorite books on marriage. The other one is also from Kregel Publications. They've really earned my respect with their books so far! I'm not a journaling type of person, but I need it with this book. The questions not only in the book, but in the journal are making me apply what I'm learning to my life. It's not allowing me to just think, "Yeah, I need to do that". It makes me think about what I need(and can) do to apply what I've learned to my life.
The Beautiful Wife
is a book I want(and need) to read slowly. It's set up to take a chapter a week. I'm not going that slow, but I'm not just reading straight through. I have a few books on my shelf that I need to constantly re-read, and so far, this is most definitely one of those books. I already have a great deal highlighted and marked up so I can easily come back and re-read passages.[The help a man] needs most to succeed in life is one that is distinctly feminine. It is a help that receives, admires, nurtures, responds, supports, and loves. A man grows by this kind of help. He matures. He is strengthened to reach higher and do more than he ever could without it. The truth is, every man longs for this kind of help. (Robert Lewis, The New Eve)(page 31)
Pray daily for your husband's needs. Pray that his strength will be used to bring glory to God and that his weaknesses will be strengthened and healed. Ask God to bring him godly friends who will encourage his spiritual growth. Pray for his emotional and physical safety. Thank God for leading and guiding him in his roles as husband, father, and co-worker.(pages 32-33)
I do want to mention that in the first chapter, The Prayer of Salvation is included. I'll let you decide whether or not that bothers you. It's only on a couple of pages, so I wouldn't let that part keep you from reading it. You can include notes if you disagree. This book is set up for groups of women, so I know that would keep some church groups(mine included) from using this book as a Bible study. Again, though, I still highly recommend it from what I've read so far.
If I run across anything that I highly disagree with, I will write my thoughts in another post to let you know.
*I was provided a review copy from Kregel Publications(through Litfuse Publicity) in exchange for my honest opinion.
**The winner from the giveaway I had was Linda K. I've already mailed her books. Her name was picked through Random.org, since I couldn't seem to figure out how to pick the winner through Rafflecopter. I wasted entirely too much time trying to figure it out! :P Congratulations, Linda!
About Sandy:
Sandy Ralya is the founder and director of Beautiful Womanhood, a marriage mentoring ministry based near Grand Rapids, Mich. Her marriage testimony was the focus of a popular three-day interview on FamilyLife Today, TV's Walking by Faith, and Time Out for Women. Sandy is a sought-after speaker, presenting Beautiful Womanhood seminars to hundreds of women each year at MOPS groups, women's retreats, and church leadership conferences across the country and in Canada. Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980, and have a growing number of grandchildren. www.beautifulwomanhood.com
To see what others on the tour are saying, Click HERE.
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(I'm so sorry y'all. My computer isn't acting right and it wouldn't let me copy and paste the whole code about the Facebook party with all the links).
Well, this seems to have a high recommendation from you!
ReplyDeleteAnd OH may I say THANK YOU for not going with rafflecopter?! I couldn't enter the giveaway at all because I couldn't figure it out! I've only seen it a few times but I dislike it intensely. (I don't know if publishers are requiring it or what but I think it asks for entirely too much information and it is confusing.)
That's an aside (mostly for publisher's FYI) but otherwise, this book sounds fabulous and I'm definitely interested in it!
Really?! I definitely won't use Rafflecopter anymore. I'll just stick to commenting. As far as I know, it's not a requirement or anything, but it seems like everybody is using it now. It was my first time using it, but I wasn't too happy with it. :P
DeleteSO FAR, this one really does have a HIGH recommendation from me. :)
I am adding this to my list. I think I had already seen it at Kregel's site...was curious...now I know I am wanting it for myself. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI hate to say, I went in to reading it a little suspicious(I don't know why!), but it has turned out to be a great study so far. I think you will love it!
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