"The Marriage You've Always Wanted" Review and Giveaway

When I was given the chance to review Gary Chapman's new book, "The Marriage You've Always Wanted," I jumped at the chance.  I've read several of his other books including "The Five Love Languages" and have always found his writing to be supported by the Bible and very helpful. 

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About the book:

You can picture the perfect marriage in your mind, but re-creating it in reality doesn't come easy.  Trusted counselor and relationship expert Dr. Gary Chapman reasons the the most sought-after ingredient in any marriage is true oneness.  In "The Marriage You've Always Wanted," he presents expert wisdom and common sense methods to establishing that true unity on emotional and practical levels.  Discover the wit and insight that makes his worldwide presentations and marriage conferences so popular.  Are you trying to change your spouse?  Do you know what it means to really love someone?  Do you feel ignored or even alone in your effort to improve your marriage?  Dr. Chapman has answers and action steps on topics from expressing your emotions to managing your money, all in a format that will have you and your spouse talking and learning with every page.  

Hubby and I have been married for over seven years.  During that seven years, we've experienced four surprise pregnancies and added three-soon-to-be-four children to our family, we've moved twice and are currently house hunting, we've each had job changes that were life-changing (not always in a good way), and we've experienced loss of income from those job changes.  That's a lot of stress and changes in seven years time!  Even though our relationship is good, there's always room for improvement, right?  Of course, like any couple, we have our idiosyncracies and habits that bother the other one ("Why can't he pick up his dirty socks?!?"  "Why does she always run the van so low on gas before filling up?!?!") 

One of the things I liked the most about this book was that it shows you how to have the marriage you want, not by changing your spouse, but by changing yourself.  It's unrealistic to expect to be able to change someone else, and you can only start with yourself.  Gary Chapman lays everything out on the table and doesn't sugar coat things.  The book can be pretty convicting, but it's definitely a good thing!

This isn't a very long book, but it can take a while to get through.  I'm still working through it as I want to be sure to give each chapter the attention it deserves before moving on to the next one.  At the end of each chapter is a section with questions and challenges to help you apply what you've learned.  The way the book is written means that it can be done by one spouse alone or by both together.  

Even if you're not currently having struggles in your marriage, this book can help strengthen your relationship and that's always a good thing.  I definitely recommend it to every married couple.

Would you like to win your own copy of "The Marriage You've Always Wanted"?  Enter on the Rafflecopter widget below.

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The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter and will be emailed.  The winner's name will also be displayed on the Rafflecopter widget.  This giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
 Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”