"The Marriage You've Always Wanted" by Gary Chapman Review & GIVEAWAY! (2/23)

*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.

 

 

About THE MARRIAGE YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED
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 that 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.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DR. GARY CHAPMAN

As anyone who has attended one of his marriage conferences knows, Dr. Gary Chapman’s expertise in marriage begins with the success and failures he and his wife Karolyn have experienced in their marriage for more than 45 years. He is just the man to turn to for help on improving or healing our most important relationships. His own life experiences, plus over thirty-five years of pastoring and marriage counseling, led him to publish his first book in the Love Language series, The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. Many of the millions of readers credit this continual New York Times bestseller with saving their marriages by showing them simple and practical ways to communicate love.

 

Since the success of his first book, Dr. Chapman has expanded his Five Love Languages series with special editions that reach out specifically to singles, men, and parents of teens and young children.

He is the author of numerous other books published by Moody Publishers/Northfield Publishing, including Anger, The Family You’ve Always Wanted, The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, Desperate Marriages, God Speaks Your Love Language, How to Really Love Your Adult Child, and Hope for the Separated. With Dr. Jennifer Thomas, he co-authored The Five Languages of Apology.

 

Dr. Chapman speaks to thousands of couples nationwide through his weekend marriage conferences. He hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, A Love Language Minute, and a Saturday morning program, Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, both airing on more than 400 stations. Dr. Chapman and his wife have two grown children and currently live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he serves as senior associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church.

 

Dr. Chapman holds BA and MA degrees in anthropology from Wheaton College and Wake Forest University, respectively, MRE and PhD degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has completed postgraduate work at the University of North Carolina and Duke University.

 

MY REVIEW:

In my 8 years of marriage I feel like I've learned quite a bit, but after reading The Marriage You've Always Wanted I found out that I still had a lot to learn!  I almost feel privileged to have read this book...like I've gotten a sneak peak at some top secret information about marriage.  The cool thing is, it isn't a secret and I want to share it with everyone I know!

There is SO much that I'd like to talk about from the book, but I'll keep it to a couple points.  One thing that I learned is that "Love" isn't a feeling, but an action and attitude.  I found it really interesting, but it also made me laugh a bit because Rich sometimes teases with a smirk and the response "I have feelings for you" after I tell him that I love him.  (A little bit of playing hard to get. ;-) )  So I told Rich that according to The Marriage You've Always Wanted  when he tells me "I have feelings for you" he's actually more accurate than saying "I love you" since love isn't as much a 'feeling' as an 'action'....I'm still going to take it as a tease from him though. ;-)

Something else that Dr. Chapman talks about is "Coupling critism with compliments".  I've heard it before and I know I've done it within my family, but it's something I'd say I need to work on even more in my marriage.  He suggests asking your spouse first if they're up for some constructive criticism and wait until they're ready.  Then, when they say they're ready (because they're not going to forget about it once you ask), start in with the compliments (preferrably three) to show how much the spouse is appreciated first before the criticism is given.  If I made sure to do this with Rich, not only will he feel like he's doing really good, there's just one little thing I'd like him to work on, but it would also remind me of all the good he does so I'm not dwelling on the one little thing that's bothering me.  Such a simple idea that could go such a long way in keeping a happy marriage!!!

I could really go on and on!  Dr. Chapman also talks about making decisions within a marriage, finances, responsibilities, sex and SO MUCH MORE!!  I can't say enough good about the The Marriage You've Always Wanted!  I was so excited to read it and excited to share it with you too!  (I'll be lending out my copy, but there is also a GIVEAWAY below!!)
 

Buy It!:

The Marriage You've Always Wanted retails for $15.99 and can be purchased through amazon.com right now for $12.22.  It's published by Moody Publishers and is 144 pages.

Visit the official website: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/resource/the-marriage-youve-always-wanted/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5LoveLanguages

twitter: https://twitter.com/drgarychapman

They even have small group curriculum available: http://experience.5lovelanguages.com

GIVEAWAY!

Congratulations to comment #7, Debby@JustBreathe!!

One of my readers is going to win their own copy of The Marriage You've Always Wanted!

To enter to win, please leave a comment below. Please be sure to leave your e-mail address, so that I can contact you if you're the winner!

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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.

Open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 years and older. Giveaway will end Sunday, February 23rd, 2014 at 11:59 EST. Winner will be chosen shortly after and contacted via e-mail. (Winner must not have won within the last month in order to share the prizes with more readers.) The winner will have 48 hours to respond otherwise I will have to choose a new winner.