Marriage joins two imperfect people who pledge to love, honor, and commit to each other for life.Eleven couples graciously chose to share their stories within the pages of this book because they believe in the sanctity of marriage. None of the couples are perfect, but they come alongside you and your spouse with experience and encouragement as you pray about how to live out your own marriage. … marriage. Some of the couples work in full-time ministry, others have chosen the military as their career. Some couples have faced the issue of infertility while others have had to deal with sickness or death. Some couples have been remarried, others married later in life, and others have dealt with seemingly more than any one couple should have to face in a lifetime. All of the couples have one thing in common – their love for God and their commitment to marriage God’s way.
Grab your favorite beverage in a comfy chair and get ready to be encouraged. Buy your own copy today, and one for a friend, because Marriage Matters!
more
Reading about ideal and imperfect relationships can help us see how to improve our own. I know God helps us in our marriages when we ask. All of the husbands and wives in this book have had issues to work through together in their marriages. They fight or disagree like any couple but have learned how to work things out. Prayer has been key for them and in my marriage too. They share additional insights for creating a fulfilling marriage.
James and Aileen – Couple in the Ministry
I felt more confident after reading this section. I liked reading about how James and Aileen work together to resolve conflicts and show consideration for each other.
James and Aileen made a commitment to each other that divorce would never be an option. Unity in purpose and faith is important. This understanding is the level of commitment necessary to make a marriage work. There are four areas they recommend focusing on, five priorities that are essential, and three levels of intimacy.
Making time for each other, listening, being open, praying together, and never calling each other names (i.e. labeling them) establishes trust and respect. Always treat each other with the kindness we would like to receive ourselves.
Curt and Kara – Couple in the Military
Kara very briefly shares the traumatic experiences she experienced before meeting and marrying her husband. PTSD created trust issues in her that dramatically affected her marriage.
“I’m so glad I didn’t tell him to get lost. Because what we ended up finding together helped put the memories of my past pain to rest.”
Different ways of seeing things and even traditional culture can affect our perspective. There are trials throughout life. Our response to these can drive a wedge between us and our loved ones unless we are careful. Kara shares advice to encourage our spouse through personal challenges without enabling harmful habits.
Bill and Cheri – Couples Next Door
I really loved reading how Bill’s loving reply to her helped her want to respond in kind.
This was a very good reminder. Cheri challenges us to understand and love our spouse better.
Trish and Jim – Remarriage
Trish blamed her husband(s) during her first two marriages for the marital troubles that ensued.
Her story of coming to God and helping her third husband, Jim, come to Christ too is inspiring. She gained a lot of self-respect, happiness, and fulfillment.
She learned she had an important role in making her marriage work out. She especially needed to stop taking things personally, see her worth through Christ, and set personal boundaries.
“Stop seeing yourself as the victim of your spouse’s sin. You aren’t.”
I love how Trish prays daily expressing gratitude for her husband. Trish assures us:
Conclusion
As a parent, I see the benefit of reading certain sections to select talking points for discussing with my teens the importance of godly relationships.
Any couple could benefit from applying the advice in this book. I believe it would especially help young married couples and those with troubles contemplating therapy. Marriage Matters is an enjoyable and often humorous read.
I received a free advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are completely my own. Full blog review includes more quotes and my husband’s take on the book too.
This book may not be what you expect to find in one about how to have a good marriage. It is not your typical teaching or how-to, but rather shares the lives of eleven couples and the stories of their lives and married relationships. They vary from those in ministry to problemed people whom sounded like might not make it if not for God’s transformation. One thing they all have in common is a redemptive experience with God and how He makes the difference in a successful marriage. Reading the book is like visiting with them and learning to know them as the individuals share their failures and successes and lessons learned in life. I appreciate the introduction and the emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and that it is a lifelong commitment. However, some of the couples featured had been divorced and remarried. The Bible says that God hates divorce, and Paul teaches that a Christian who divorces is not free to marry while the spouse is still alive because God recognizes the marriage covenant as only ending at death. So I was disappointed to see the latter ones used as examples in the text, although we can learn from them too. I received a copy from Celebrate Lit. All opinions are my own.
Marriage Matters by author Cheri Swalwell is a Christian book of marriage. It doesn’t matter if you are a newlywed or in your golden years of marriage, all couples will enjoy this beautifully written book. The author has written a timeless book to help those traveling down the marriage road, which at times can get rocky.
This is an extremely well researched, planned, and organized. I thoroughly enjoy author Swalwell’s style of writing. It is cozy and personal. Her books read like a conversation over a cup of Vanilla Caramel Cream Coffee (my favorite) at a kitchen table. I love that intimate, transparency in a book. God is first and foremost in all of her books, including this one.
Eleven couples have shared their marriage journey. Each offer their unique take on marriage with a common thread joining them all together…God. This book touched my heart in many ways. The counsel it offers is biblical. It is such a valuable marriage resource that I would recommend it to any newlywed couple. It would make a helpful couples small group study even if the couples had been married a different number of years.
The topics discussed are a varied as the couples. Honesty, openness, infertility, sickness, death, and disappointment are just a few of the issues tackled in this powerful book. Readers will have new perspectives and encouragement after reading this book. The most important message is to keep God in the marriage with you and your spouse.
If you are looking for a marriage marriage book that is scripturally based and that will actually be read from cover to cover, this one is for you. I highly recommend it and give it a 5 star rating. Any church library would benefit from having a Marriage Matters. I received a copy from Celebrate Lit but these are my honest words.
If you are looking at ways to help you in your marriage than this book actually comes up with some helpful tidbits. This is a book with stories of encouragement from some couples that have been married for a while. They each have a slightly different take on what it takes to have a good marriage. I enjoyed reading each couples story. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
There are many resources available about marriage which at times can be confusing. This book is one that I would recommend to any married couple who wants to strengthen their marriage. It would be a great tool to use in marital counseling and a perfect gift for newlyweds.
The author uses personal stories from couples to show what God’s plan for marriage is. It isn’t about who is right or in charge but learning to prefer one another. I enjoyed reading each story and how transparent the couples were. There is no such thing as a perfect marriage, but with God there is a marriage that honors the covenant made by two people with God as the center. I loved when the boom shared that if you doubt if you picked the right one, you did when you said I do. See when we say those words we have made a covenant. It is not to be broken and with God in your marriage all things can work out. We need to trust Him in the good and bad times. “Healthy relationships aren’t when we look for it in the other, but when we focus on becoming the right one.”
The book is filled with stories that are encouraging and I don’t think I could pick just one as my favorite. They each touch on different subjects dealing with marriage while giving Godly examples that lead couples toward a marriage that is ordained by God. Praying together as a couple is important as you can share your thoughts and concerns. I liked how one of the couple’s talk about sharing all passwords with each other. The enemy would love for a spouse to hide a secret Facebook account . Being open is important in keeping the enemy out of your marriage. Communication is another important key in a marriage. Share your feelings with each other. Allow your spouse to know where you are struggling so that the enemy cannot divide you.
I love how the book is designed and how the author includes scriptures that speak about marriage, trust, forgiveness and other emotions that make marriages healthy. The most important points I took away from this book was to keep God in your marriage, communicate with each other and pray together.
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.
This Christian book about marriage is a collection of suggestions and priorities as shared by several couples who have, with God’s help and hard work, marriages in which the couples are even more in love than they were when they first met. These have been collected by a Spirit-led author, who also shares from the blessings and lessons of her own marriage. All agree on a couple non-negotiable priorities. Some are more detailed than others, and most include scripture references. While I do have a favorite, it was because the writing style most appealed to my understanding. All are excellent.
There are eleven couples who believe in the Biblical model of marriage, all with a variety of experiences and challenges, including those facing terminal illness in spouses and infertility. Seeing how others grow in grace, intimacy, and love is a true inspiration. We also see how marriage can be selfless, committed to the other person and to their children, only through their faith in the Lord and close relationship with Him. “All of the couples have one thing in common – their love for God and their commitment to marriage God’s way.” (loc 99) Couples have been married five to 50 years or more, and in some cases, we hear from both spouses.
This is not a book to be lightly read. It is best read slowly, whether by one partner or by both together. One story of encouragement can be appreciated at a time, perhaps over several days, for however it takes to grasp prayerfully what is necessary to learn. It is also a book that can be re-read for years to come.
There are many things I wish I had known or understood long before marriage, especially my first marriage! I haven’t had a lot of patience with process and made many, many mistakes along the way (and continue to learn patience out of “no other choice”). Until my (present) husband, I knew very little about what made up a Christian marriage. I appreciate the writings by the couple who had been married before and their transparency in what didn’t work, and what they are doing differently now. The only thing I would have liked to see included would be relationships with adult children who are active in the other spouse’s life, especially if personalities are very different.
This would make a wonderful gift for those in their late teens, even if there is not yet a significant other for the person. Some suggestions are excellent and should be considered while one is still dating. At any point in a couple’s journey, there are things that can help a good marriage become a great marriage. I completely, highly recommend this collection of encouragement from scripture and from couples who continually learn to live it out for folks in any stage of courtship or marriage!
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Celebrate Lit, and this is my honest review.