In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Easter Week

With the exception of one day this week which was pre-planned (and you'll know which one I'm talking about when we get there!) I've decided to simplify this week in honor of this coming Sunday and what it represents.

I just kinda want to take a deep breath, relax into my reading, do some thinking and regrouping and focus as much as possible on celebrating the Easter season with my family. So this week will be sort of quiet but we'll get things back on track next week.

In the meantime, here are some posts which have inspired me to celebrate the Easter week instead of making it just about the weekend or even just a day!

Janet from Across the Page talked about one of her family's Easter traditions.

Ronnica from Ignorant Historian talked about the Resurrection Season.

Monica from Homespun Heart got me hunting up ideas for our family.

So it'll be a slightly different format around here for this one week only, with something special popping up midweek which I'm happy to share with you.

Otherwise....Easter!

Friday Laughs

One more for the weekend...

We find this amusing in light of our wedding photography (side career) and love of Monk:



See, I DO have other interests outside of books. I just...never talk about them! =D

Friday Favs

First off, thanks to Suzanne for hosting this for us week after week! It fits in with my personal challenge and reminds me to choose gratitude even when things aren't going so well.

Things this week went very well though! It's easy to be grateful on weeks such as these - when you are just living in the moment and the moment is peace. We had a marvelous time with our friends who came in from out-of-town and spent the week. It was awesome to have them around and meet their new little one (and have them meet ours!) On the last day that they were here, we all went to the Oregon coast for a day and I thought I'd share my five favorite photos from that little excursion. Enjoy!


What a playground, huh? Check the following out...

That's some pretty nice recessed lighting in the background there, isn't it? I LOVE that we live in Oregon!!!!


It was SUCH a beautiful and perfect day! I'm so glad we were able to take our friends out there and enjoy fabulous weather and gorgeous scenery. Now if we could just convince them to move up here and enjoy it with us more frequently.

Possibility? Probably not. =) So we have to enjoy these moments when we have them!

Content,

Carrie

Winners and Grateful Thanks

Congratulations go to the following two ladies who won a copy of Oceans: The Ultimate Guide to Marine Life :

#14 - Amy @ The Black Sheep Dances

#17 - Pixie13

I'll be e-mailing you both shortly, so check your inboxes!

The two winners of What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp are:

#2 - Stephanie @ Olive Tree

#20 - Serena

For those of you who did not win a copy of this title, I'll take a moment to remind you that this is like a must read if you are married. Seriously! You can still take advantage of the Pre-Order Special which Crossway Books is currently offering.

This book is most excellent and since I can't recommend it more highly, I'll leave it at congratulations to the two winners and hope the rest of you will look into it! If I could - I'd give each one of you a copy (because it's that's good) but right now I'm just grateful to Crossway for the two which are going to Stephanie & Serena.

Both of these publishers have been incredibly generous, wouldn't you say?

Thank you all for entering the contests. It's fun to host them and I enjoy doing it because I recognize that the gift of a book is a blessing. I hope you enjoy them also. Honestly, I take great delight in finding titles that I think are superb and providing a forum for you to also add them to your home library. For me this is just delightful fun. So I appreciate your enthusiasm and participation. Stay tuned because I have some more fun surprises coming up around the corner which I am over the moon excited about!

*Carrie rubs hands together and cackles maniacally*

Discovering God in Stories from the Bible

This is one of those book reviews wherein I want to simply say, "Amazing. Go read it." Imagine how much time I would save us all by saying so? I would have expressed my opinion and you would have known my thoughts exactly (or as close as you could possibly come to knowing them.)

Discovering God in Stories from the Bible was thought-provocative in the best sense. Written by Philip Graham Ryken, who is the Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, he doesn't mince words. I don't mean in the Doug Wilson sense. Or even Swindoll. Ryken has a style very much his own and I have to say that I really appreciated it.

The book 'had me from hello' in essence, with Ryken's remarks in the Preface, which I simply must quote because it tells you what to expect in the rest of the book:

I long to know God more intimately. At least, sometimes I do. The rest of the time I am too busy for God, oblivious to the greatness of His glory. But deep down, my heart's desire is to know and love the God who has always known and loved me.

The way to know God better is to study Him. The way to study Him is to learn what the Bible teaches about Him, for all God's attributes are revealed in God's Word. Though difficult, the contemplation of God is the most rewarding of all endeavors. In the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

"There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity . . . Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continuing, investigation of the great subject of the Deity."

You want to talk about pride taking a plunge? You want to talk about the intellect being enlarged? (Don't read this post...) Read the book!

Chapter by Chapter, Ryken challenges his reader to pull as much meat out of the Bible passages and stories that they read as possible. For example, let's start with Chapter 1 which is entitled "To God Be the Glory: The Story of Moses on God's Mountain." You probably have read the story of when Moses goes up to Mountain to commune with God. Moses asks to see God and is informed that the glory of God is too much for humanity to handle. Instead, God has Moses get into a cleft of a rock and covers the opening. God reveals only His back to Moses and that glimpse alone causes Moses to be transformed. Why? Because the glory of God will do that to you! You cannot read His word in earnest and not walk away changed, or with a challenge to change. Ryken proceeds to provide a mini-study on the glory of God in the first chapter, defining it (as best as is humanely possible), referencing other theologians, cross-referencing with other scripture and explaining the Hebrew and Greek translation of words when appropriate.

Does that sound too heady for you? Well, it's not. Not really at all! This book is extremely straight forward and written in such a manner that anyone can understand it. You do not have to have a seminary degree. It's "simple" theology that any Christian, at any age, or any season in life can grasp hold of. I appreciate it though because he assumes the best of his readers and doesn't try to dumb things down or offer pop culture references to make his points. It reads like an interesting sermon. I thought it was a particularly nice companion to Chuck Swindoll's Great Lives series which I've been reading through here recently. Ryken doesn't explicitly go about offering practical application to the Bible verses, although he does that. His main point is to teach about the attributes of God. Coincidentally, these are attributes we should be working on in ourselves. So it is practical. But not in the same way that Swindoll approaches things.

I really loved Discovering God in Stories from the Bible. I think books, such as this one by Ryken, are much needed in day and age where The Dude Abides is trying to rule the day. We don't need a dude. We need a Savior. And we need books like Discovering God in Stories from the Bible to help accurately point us to Him.

Thanks, P&R Publishing, for helping to make such a resource available to us. You have my gratitude!

Home, by Marilynne Robinson (& a giveaway)

I realize that Home: A Novel has been out for a little while but I just got my hands on a copy and finally got around to reading it! I've been saying "I mean to" and that "I was gonna" but I hadn't. Now I have. And now I must write the book out of my system.

I spent five days reading this book exclusively. If you know me and my reading style, you will know how unique and strange that is. My inability to complete it more quickly had nothing whatsoever to do with nap times, play time, "Mommy, look at this!" time or the like. It had everything to do with me and how much I could process in a sitting. Let me tell you, I wasn't able to process much! As it turns out, Home wasn't just a book to read, it was something to experience.

If you are unfamiliar with the tale, it is connected to Robinson's book, Gilead. It is not a sequel and you can read Home all by itself. It stands alone quite well. In fact, I re-skimmed Gilead just to see if I needed a refresher and it turns out that I did not. If I were to look at Home simplistically, I would say that it is a story about a broken family - a son who left home and didn't return for 20 years. In some ways, it is a retelling of the prodigal son except each family member has flaws that they would rather not talk about or deal with. No one knows where this son, Jack, was or what he was doing. But he hasn't really done anything unexpected. Jack has always been a loner, doing things which were unexplainable. Running away for twenty years could be excused with a simple, "That's Jack." Out of eight children, he was the "disreputable" one - the unregenerate son awkwardly stumbled back into the home where his father lay dying.

This book is filled with some of the most beautiful prose I'm sure that you could hope to find. It's elegant and it removes all ability to skim a page to get the gist of what's happening. Word by word, line by line, you must work your way through this book and the emotions of each individual character.

Work is indeed what this book felt like until about three fourths of the way through until I was struck by a distant memory. I had a friend who was Jack. I remembered that and then I devoured the book. It's very odd to find your life inside of a book - whether it be your life in entirety or just a specific moment in time. Good books are supposed to do that to us. Isn't that what I always argue around here? Well written books are supposed to share a world view and accurately point us to truth. They are supposed to reveal things to us and challenge our thinking processes. Yes, there is a time and place to read for pleasure but reading should also be work. Sometimes books just leap up and smack you between the eyes. They make you think of your past, your present and how you would like to think about your future.

Home threw me backwards in time, when I was told something almost identical to what Jack says here when conversing with his sister, Glory:

She said, "You want to get yourself on better terms with Ames. How can you do that if you don't let him - well - treat you like a friend? Ask you to supper? It's the most ordinary thing in the world."

He nodded. "There it is. My lifelong exile from the ordinary world. I have to learn the customs. And somehow persuade myself that they pertain to me." He looked at her. "That's where it gets tricky." (page 201, trade paperback version)

How does Marilyn Robinson know to write about people like Jack? How does she paint the picture so accurately? How can she possibly understand where they are coming from? And how can I?

I sailed through the final chapters of this book to get out of it. I'm writing this review, trusting that I will walk away from it. But hidden in unexpected places, Robinson describes humanity - in a million ways. There are no chapters in this book, merely breaks in the page indicating that you can stop and breathe for a moment. But then you must pick it back up and keep going. I'm baffled that she knows how to do this to her reader.

This book makes a person laugh because of self recognition. At times, it also makes them cry for the same reason. It is not a simple story so I have no basic description to give to it. Hauntingly beautiful? Mesmerizing? Yes, I could say those things and they would certainly be true. Her fiction carries a great deal of truth. I tried to mark passages to share from but each part that stood out to me was really just a passing moment in a complete story that cannot be mimicked back by a person simply "reviewing" a book. I'm afraid I cannot review it because I breathed in a part of it - and breathed it out again. No, if you want to really know this book you must pick it up and read it for yourself. I cannot read it for you.

In fact, the only way that I can help you at all is to announce that the publisher, Picador, has offered TWO copies to give away. Two of you have a chance at winning your own copy of Home: A Novel simply by leaving a comment below. The contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through March 31st. I will announce the winner on April 1st. I think that's something that Jack would approve of somehow. Yes. I do.

Nightstand - the Dilemma Continues!

Well, I think I've done pretty good with fiction this past month. Hmm, then again, maybe I should continue to work on a blend of fiction and non. I confess I fall to the non-fiction much more easily. It just feels more profitable to me, mentally. But that's kinda stupid and I do realize that. It's nice to not only relax into a good fiction read, but really think through it as well. At any rate, despite all that I was able to read this past month, I feel like there's tons more "to do."

I confess, I don't really care for the "to do" feeling when it comes to reading. I prefer to the "I'm so relaxed" approached to reading which I seem to experience only a few times a year. I put too much on myself but I haven't figured out how to stop yet! The vicious cycle continues: Carrie relaxes into her reading, then takes on too much all at once and reading feels like a chore, then her TBR stack shrinks a bit and she feels more relaxed - no, wait! - she's piled on more books.

With all of that confusion it's a wonder I haven't paralyzed myself from being able to read anything at all!

This month I have more non-fiction than fiction on the Nightstand and it starts with two rather interesting titles that I'm quite sure I'll find interesting, annoying and hopefully insightful!




It's All Greek to Me: From Homer to the Hippocratic Oath, How Ancient Greece Has Shaped Our World

Bible Babel: Making Sense of the Most Talked About Book of All Time

These two probably rank as my top "morbidly curious" sort of reads and I can't imagine letting them collect dust for another month.

As for fiction reads that I'd really, honest and true, enjoy getting to in the next month:



If I keep saying that it will happen, it will happen, right? Isn't that how it works?

Here's hoping (and doing a little purposeful planning!)

It's bean fun!

(Pardon my idiotic sense of humor. But if you'd been watching the Youtube videos WE have on bean sprouting....well!)

Check this out!!!!!



We must have watched the one above at least five times. The first time all three of us (Bookworms 1 & 2, plus myself) watched in fear and wonderment. The second time around I couldn't quit laughing, Bookworm1 was laughing and trying to mimic the words he THOUGHT they were saying, and Bookworm2 engaged in nervous laughter. The third time we watched it, we all laughed and then went to go and soak some beans.

For the record, our only plan is to plant some beans in some jars and see how they grow. Here is our container of freshly planted beans (which, for the record, have not made an appearance top of soil as of yet and we've been waiting for close to three weeks.)

Of course, all of this ties into a book. I was actually not the one to make the connection because our activity and this particular story. Bookworm1 said we were growing beans, "Just like Mickey and the Beanstalk!" And so we are. Only I would like to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, thanks, and watch our beans grow without the threat of giants.

Of course, once Bookworm1 made the connection for Mommy, we started talking about beans and seeds and other stories which can foster the concept.

(For the record, we haven't watched the movie version of this particular story about Mickey just yet. Unfortunately the book mentions that the giant "growls" and that has put Bookworm1 off for the time being. At the moment, we merely read the story.)


On that note, we were also able to try out a game to accompany the book! The game was provided to us by Winning Moves (which I personally think is an awesome name for a game company!)



The basic idea for the Jack And the Beanstalk Game is this:

1. Up to four players can work their way up the beanstalk and back down again, in a quest to collect three treasures: golden coins, the goose that laid the golden egg, and the singing harp. You go up, you come down.

2. There is a giant (of course!) who can also travel down from his castle at the top of the beanstalk to give chase to Jack and recollect treasures. If he lands on your space, then you have to give up one of your priceless possessions.

3. The first player who makes it back down the beanstalk with all three treasures wins the game! You can lose treasures along the way via the giant, as mentioned previously, or by another player being given the opportunity to trade treasures with you, thereby eliminating your ability to form your collection of three treasures too quickly.

I thought the game would be simply and easily won, but it ended up that a second trip up the beanstalk was a perfectly valid threat in order to claim the requisite singing harp. Bookworm1 had successfully gathered both the golden coins and goose but was lacking the harp before making it back to the starting position.

The game is designed for children ages 5 and up, but Bookworm1, being 3 1/2, understood the concepts and we had no troubles in playing it together. He definitely still needs some adult supervision when playing, but we were able to play against one another without too much confusion (on the part of either one of us!) and so I considered our venture with the Jack And the Beanstalk Game to be a success! Except (!) he is still young enough to play the game literally and expressed some serious concerns about the giant landing on his space. ("What will he DO to me!?") Heh . . . I love literal toddlers in a strange and amusing way!

We liked this game and appreciate Winning Moves providing us with the opportunity to play it! (They apparently also make a Princess and the Pea game which, if we had a girl, I'd be curious to play at some point! I'm liking this whole 'storybook theme' game idea!)

It's also true that we like the sun and water and are hoping against hope to see some sprouts appear in our little "pot" in the very near future. How long should we be expecting this to take anyway? Not that we're impatient or anything...

Any bean and sprout books/games/video recommendation for us? Let us know!

For Your Monday

God Bless You, Chick fil A

One last thing for your weekend...



Thanks to my SIL for pointing this out to (my brother) and me.

Friday Favorite Five Things WOO HOO!

It's a weekend! And for us - it's a FUN ONE! Some of our great friends are on their way for a visit and we're sure looking forward to it! In the meantime, we've been cleaning and preparing for their arrival and just enjoying the week.

Randomness today folks, ok!?

#1 - Giveaways. WAIT! I know that sounds kinda silly but it's actually a huge blessing (in my opinion) and a sign of generosity when a publisher works with the "common man" to provide freebies. For those on tight budgets and going through hard times, a contest can be a really fun thing to win. My FAVORITE giveaway this week is a book on marriage that I think is out-of-this-world AMAZING! If you missed it, check out my review of What Did You Expect?? I have two copies to give away so don't miss the chance. It's a book worth owning, and that's the truth!


My second favorite (and Bookworm1's favorite) is the new Thomas movie which I reviewed and we're giving away over at 5 Minutes for Books.




#2 - We have a couple of fun family trips planned for this year but there was a surprise one that just sort of fell into our laps this past week. It's really fun to plan vacations. REALLY fun. And it's incredible when God just plants a vacation in your lap and it's something that you couldn't really have planned very well if you tried. It's a gift! So I'm not boasting. But I AM just beside myself with glee, thankfulness and anticipation! (That whole anticipation thing again!)

#3 - My truly magnificent husband. He reads with me, he talks with me, he figures life out with me and he never makes me feel stupid (which is incredible because I really am stupid in so many ways!) He doesn't walk away from me during the hard times. Instead he seeks me out. And I'm NOT easy to seek out during the hard times. I like bubbles. Put me in one and leave me alone! But I can't do that forever and Jonathan reminds me of that. I was listening to some Steven Curtis Chapman songs (I will pause for a moment while you feign surprise over my music choice) and came across this one again and I let it pump through my heart a few times after a particularly poignant conversation.

If you are in the midst of any sort of trying situation and you are feeling a bit discouraged and need some encouragement then I have one thing to say to you today:

Turn the volume on this one UP! (But I'm not really a big fan of the images, I have to say. There were no other options worth showing.)

Let me be made weak
So I'll know the strength of the One Who's strong
Bring it on!

(Only, really, sometimes I don't want to say "Bring it On!" so much as I want to say to trouble, "JUST GO AWAY ALREADY!")

But I'm not gonna run from the very things that will drive me closer to Him....

#4 - My hilarious first born. Bookworm1 is developing quite the sense of humor these days and more and more often I find that it's harder to keep a straight face when talking to him. He makes us laugh so very often!

#5 - My adorable second born who throws himself on top of us, begging to be held. He just wants to know that we're near. I'm also grateful for the song Eensy Weensy Spider because it never fails to produce a smile and a laugh when one is needed! Have you never Youtubed this song? (What? You haven't?! Well then!) I would never dream of showing Bookworm2 this video because it freaks ME out!

Here, for your complete amusement, is the Eensy Weensy Spider tutorial:



You'll notice that the video has a lot of views but I don't think it's because people actually want to learn the hand motions. You'll thank me -- later. Much, much later maybe.

In the meantime - hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!

Grinning With Anticipation,

Carrie

What Did You Expect??, by Paul David Tripp

I'm probably not qualified to write this review. But then again, I totally am. Either which way, I'm going to do it.

I was asked if I wanted to read an advanced copy of What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage, by Paul David Tripp and published by Crossway Books. Um, yes please?

This is probably one of the best books I've said "yes" to when it comes to reviewing. If I were in the habit of giving away 5 stars around these parts, I'd give this one 1,000. Even then, that would not be enough stars to rate this book because it was absolutely awesome in every single way.

Before Jonathan and I got married we read a ton of marriage books. If the title or the subject matter had anything to do with the mere idea of being married then you can probably assume we read it. We also went through months of premarital counseling, watched video series, listened to audio series and tried to learn as much as we could as we entered into this holy state. We also fought talked incessantly about our expectations and opinions of how the other person "should be" behaving and what we expected our relationship to look like in 1 year, 5 and 10 years down the road. Since that time we've actually been married. Our original expectations of who we were and expected to be aren't quite the same as they once were.

This book takes the cake when it comes to all the materials that we read through though! I'm pretty sure it was written for us and we certainly wish it was written by us. (I don't think I've ever said that about a book before in my life, but it's true!)

Are you married? Pick up a copy of this book. If you're married, you need it. Why do I think this book is the best I've ever read on the topic? Where do I even begin?

Let me put it this way - Paul David Tripp is realistic. He's not here to tell married couples (or those considering becoming so) that 'love is all' anyone needs. He refers to soon-to-be-weds as being in a state of romantic delirium, full of unrealistic but happy-ish thoughts about what marriage is. He has noticed that as soon as the "honeymoon" is over and people get on about their daily lives - they have some adjustments to make. Suddenly you discover that you didn't marry the person that you thought you did. Oh, not to say your mate is evil. He's not saying that at all! He's just making the case that we're each sinful and once you enter into the marriage state, you have not only your own sins to deal with (which are suddenly magnified by 1,000) but you have your own sins to deal with. Wait! What? Yeah. You heard correctly. Tripp is here to tell you that you are a sinner. He recommends not even beginning to look in your spouse's direction.

To give you a visual, Tripp points out (har) that our typical behavior when things aren't going "our way" in our own little personal kingdom is to do something like this:



We like to place the blame on other people whenever possible. "Never take personal responsibility" is frequently our motto whether we realize it or not, right? It's pathetic when you think about it! We're oafs when we do that.

Instead, Trip says that we should stand in front of a mirror and do this:


Point that finger at the person who is really causing the problem. That's right! Tripp says that the person who is causing the problems in your marriage is none other than the blessed you. The sooner we are open to examining our own behaviors, and setting pride aside to address our own sin issues, the sooner our marriage will be repaired and restored.

He describes this in terms of personal kingdoms - His and Hers, respectively. We each want ultimate sovereignty in the relationship. Jonathan - do this. Carrie - do that. What each person is essentially saying is, "Make ME feel comfortable!" Tripp admonishes couples not to do that. We shouldn't be selfishly decreeing that things look the way we personally and individually think that they ought. Rather, he says to focus on becoming one flesh and creating a new identity with one another. It wouldn't look like me and it wouldn't look like Jonathan. It would look like Jonathan & Carrie, together. That new unit is something uniquely different and a component of who we used to be (but are not anymore.) No longer is it Jonathan or Carrie but Jonathan AND Carrie. (One little word change can make all the difference.)

Tripp further says that the thing to do is not necessarily to "learn how to love your spouse" (like so many other marriage books that we read!) but "learn how to love God." This entire book is essentially based on the concept that in order to love your spouse, you must first learn to love God - to worship Him. Tripp maintains that if you fail to learn how to love and worship God as the Creator of Marriage, you will never learn how to effectively love your spouse.

When couples get married, they seem to be focused on the fact that life is now suddenly all about their new loving partnership.

He is so awesome. She is beautiful. He is so charming. She is so generous. He is so smart. She is so patient.

Our eyes are focused on the external and the temporary (in so many ways) that we kinda forget to look up in order to establish this new romantic relationship in way that will foster growth between the couple for the long haul that is apparently marriage.

"This is the bottom line: the war for our marriages is a war of worship. The fundamental problem of every marriage is misplaced worship. The cure for every marriage is renewed worship of God. Does it sound too simple? Well, it is and it isn't. Although this principle is true of every marriage, the war and the cure look different for every couple, because the way the war plays out and the way the cure heals is different for each couple. It is different for each couple due to how God has hardwired us, who He placed us near, and where He has chosen for us to live. Yet, despite our differences, we all suffer from the same problem, and we all look to the same cure." Chapter 17, Worship, Work, and Grace)

Most Christians, having heard the instruction to "love God and by doing so, you'll learn to love your spouse" will nod their heads in agreement. I would have to agree that the statement sounds "simplistic" on its face. But my heart leaped when I read these words because of the deeper truth - the war on worship, and the war on individual marriages is very real. And if we, as Christians, realized this, maybe we would learn to stay alert and fight harder for that 'which God has joined together' (both for our own marriages and for others'.) Instead, we married couples tend to feel 'hard pressed on every side' - even by those who profess love for us! But as Tripp points out, because we are so different we will experience different trials and need to be alert as marriage units as to what threats come into the individualized relationship and threaten to destroy or weaken it.

Let me put this very bluntly: my top priority as Jonathan's wife is to serve God and when I do that I will be learning to serving Jonathan well. The same is true for him. If something or someone threatens to step into our marriage and harm it, we should be vigilant to step up and say, "We cannot allow this in." As Tripp also points out, good marriages don't happen by accident. Good marriages happen as a result of hard work. I walked away from this book affirmed and encouraged that fighting for my marriage and my relationship with Jonathan is the best thing I could possibly do in my lifetime and doing so isn't something I should be made to feel like I should have to apologize for. I promised to be married to him. I promised to love him. I promised to care for him. I promised to work with him to build a relationship that would stand before God. Our priority is therefore bound up in this new relationship - this idea that Jonathan and Carrie would come together and become one - a new unit and identity that is different than any other.

It has been disheartening to us of late to hear of marriages falling apart. It wounds us, regardless of how close we were or are to the couple, because it is a marriage, which we believe is something special and sacred. A marriage is a covenant between two people and before God, and speaking strictly with regards to marriages which are not abusive, are designed to last. We've been given repeated reminders of late that we cannot slack off in purposing to be married. We seem to have few options available to us but to work hard and protect something that God put together (on purpose.)

I closed this book feeling encouraged and refreshed. I'm excited about it! (Can you tell?) I think What Did You Expect? knocks the socks off of other books on marriage because it tells couples these days what they need to hear. That is? Laziness will destroy your marriage. It WILL be attacked (by society or maybe even those 'closer to home') and your job as one of the partners in the marriage is to stand firm in favor of the union, honoring God by honoring what He's called you to.

Jonathan here with an extra note... I was going to write more of my thoughts, but after reading Carrie's review she's said almost everything on my mind! One thing that really did stand out to me while reading this book was that it seems to have grown out of a desire to communicate "what people really need to learn from premarital counseling." However, I think people will be most able to really grasp these concepts after they've been married for a period of months or years, and can relate more directly to the examples being described. But Paul Tripp really hits the nail on the head with such a direct and powerful message, I believe that people incorporating the gospel into their marriages the way he describes can turn around even the most difficult of relationships.

The book releases in April so it's not available just quite yet. However, if you would like to pre-order the book, you can take advantage of THIS PRE-ORDER SPECIAL offered by Crossway. If you order during the month of March (and are one of the first 1500 to do so!) then you will receive 35% off the cost (that's a better deal than Amazon, folks!). CLICK HERE to see the special.

I DO hope you will choose to read this book because this is one of 'the greats' that I think is worth your time. Why is it worth your time? Because I think marriage is worth it. Mine and yours.

THIS POST ORIGINALLY POSTED AS A GIVEAWAY BUT THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.