Love & War Book Review

This was book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Summary:

What the Eldredge bestsellers Wild at Heart did for men, and Captivating did for women, LOVE & WAR will do for married couples everywhere. John and Stasi Eldredge have contributed the quintessential works on Christian spirituality through the experience of men and the experience of women and now they turn their focus to the incredible dynamic between those two forces.

With refreshing openness that will grab readers from the first page, the Eldredges candidly discuss their own marriage and the insights they’ve gained from the challenges they faced. Each talks independently to the reader about what they’ve learned, giving their guidance personal immediacy and a balance between the male and female perspectives that has been absent from all previous books on this topic. They begin LOVE & WAR with an obvious but necessary acknowledgement: Marriage is fabulously hard. They advise that the sooner we get the shame and confusion off our backs, the sooner we'll find our way through.

LOVE & WAR shows couples how to fight for their love and happiness, calling men and women to step into the great adventure God has waiting for them together. Walking alongside John and Stasi Eldredge, every couple can discover how their individual journeys are growing into a story of meaning much greater than anything they could do or be on their own.


My Thoughts:
I truly enjoyed reading this book, Love & War, by John and Stasi Eldridge.  I have always been very intrigued by books on marriage.  I am always wanting to learn more on how to make my  marriage better.  This past year was definitely one of those years when the marriage just didn't feel like it was "working".  This book was a great eye-opener.  The first thing I appreciate about this book is how candid the authors are about their own personal marriage.  Sometimes, as an outsider, we stand back and look at our friends and acquaintances and wish we had their marriage, but do we really want their marriage?  After reading what the Eldridges had to say about marriage, it truly has made me feel normal in my marriage. 

Marriage is truly a WAR.  It's a war to fight for your mate no matter what.  As stated in the book, (marriage) "It's like throwing a dog and a cat in a dryer."  How true!  Sometimes I do feel that way.  It's okay to feel the struggle in our marriage.  It is just a growing process and makes us stronger as we learn and grow.

My favorite paragraph in the book is this:  "Learning to live with our opposite and all their little quirkinesses is part of learning to love.  'Love is a rock', Shawn Mullins sings, 'smoothed over by a stream'.  We want love to be stable and immovable, like a rock.  Steady and sure.  But that stream part is another matter.  Some force constantly washing over us, smoothing our rough edges.  We don't much go in for that.  But let's face it - we've all got some roughness to our personalities, don't we?  We've all got a good bit of smoothing over to do.  For this wonderful process, God gives us...each other.  Marriage is the rushing stream God uses to shape us into more loving people."

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone out there who is married, about to be married or wanting to be married.  A book like this would've truly enlightened me a little more and allowed me to realize that the "fairytale marriage" is just that, a fairytale.  I believe this is one of those books that I will have to read a few more times to dig a few more gems out.  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.  It was definitely great timing to read this book this close to the Valentine weekend. 

If you would like more information about where to purchase this book, please click here.