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Life Promises for Couples by Gary Chapman

Ask my husband or me how we’re doing these days, and you’re likely to get an answer along the lines of “we’re busy.” We’re trying to juggle the tasks of parenting two little girls while we’re both in school plus volunteering and working part-time. It’s not easy.

In the midst of all that busyness, I’ve come to realize that we need to be as deliberate about building our marriage relationship as we are about building our careers. When one of us is out most nights of the week, it can be hard to find time to spend together, yet that is critical for our relationship.

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Life Promises for Couples by Gary ChapmanGary Chapman’s new marriage resource, Life Promises for Couples: God’s Promises for You and Your Spouse offers brief snippets of advice along with Scripture promises. This book is small enough to fit into a purse or coat pocket and can be dipped into at any page (or any Scripture, if you want to use the index at the back of the book).

Each chapter is short but to the point, giving concrete suggestions for improving your relationship. Some of the chapters that spoke to me were those on communication.

Chapman talks about the importance of revealing ourselves to our spouses and of letting our spouses know what we feel (rather than making them guess about why we are upset). I’ve come to realize that I’m not very good at doing that. When I do take the risk to share my thoughts and emotions with my husband, I feel much closer to him. Being busy is a good way to avoid communication, so we need to be deliberate about finding time just to talk with each other.

I heartily agree that “whether you are a young couple just starting out or you’ve just celebrated your 50th wedding anniversary, your marriage is sure to benefit from the timeless wisdom contained in this beautifully designed two-color gift book.”

Suggestions for reading Life Promises for Couples together:

  • read a chapter in the morning while drinking your coffee or eating breakfast, before you start the day
  • read a chapter in the evening, once the kids are in bed and you can relax with a glass of wine and some time to talk about your day
  • buy two copies so you can each read on the go and then text / message each other about what jumped out at you

I’ve greatly appreciated Dr. Chapman’s wisdom in The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted and Happily Ever After. Life Promises for Couples provides bite-sized snippets of that same wisdom.

Dr. Gary Chapman is the bestselling author of numerous books, including The Five Love Languages. He now travels widely speaking on marriage, family and relationships. He and his wife Karolyn live in North Carolina. To find out more about Gary or his books, visit his website.

How do you and your spouse connect with each other?  What helps you communicate about things that are important to you?

Life Promises for Couples was provided for review courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers; all opinions expressed are my own.

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5 Comments

  1. Koala Bear Writer March 5, 2012
  2. donett March 4, 2012
  3. Ange March 4, 2012
  4. Koala Bear Writer March 3, 2012
  5. heather @ new house, new home, new life March 3, 2012

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