The Marriage You've Always Wanted (ISBN 1598590081)

GREAT ADVICE ON HOW TO HAVE THE MARRIAGE OF YOUR DREAMS:
Every couple enters the gateway of marriage hoping their journey will last forever. Yet in The Marriage You've Always Wanted, Dr. Gary Chapman shares the sobering statistic that half of all couples today will probably split up. It doesn't have to be that way, he says. Since thousands have sought him for counsel, his book captures sage advice in a concise, readable form. As bestselling author of The Five Love Languages, Chapman is the leading expert on what leads to unity in loving relationships. The key lies in yielding our own faults and weaknesses before the throne of Christ and asking the Holy Spirit to transform our behavior, words, and attitudes. In other words, we focus on changing ourselves, not our spouse. In candid detail, Chapman offers personal anecdotes from his own marriage, as well as stories that flesh out marital problems and solutions. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of marriage, such as its purpose, why people marry, the art of listening, decision making, sexual fulfillment, leaving and honoring parents, and financial planning. This book is a revised and updated edition of Chapman's Toward a Growing Marriage. Church libraries and marriage counselors will want this newer version. Ideally, it would make excellent reading and discussion material for couples before they marry. Yet, it offers examples and hope to couples in crisis situations, as well as those seeking to further strengthen an already wholesome marriage. -Heather Lynn Ivester, Christian Book Previews

Excellent reading and discussion material:
Every couple enters the gateway of marriage hoping their journey will last forever. Yet in The Marriage You've Always Wanted, Dr. Gary Chapman shares the sobering statistic that half of all couples today will probably split up. It doesn't have to be that way, he says. Since thousands have sought him for counsel, his book captures sage advice in a concise, readable form. As bestselling author of The Five Love Languages, Chapman is the leading expert on what leads to unity in loving relationships. The key lies in yielding our own faults and weaknesses before the throne of Christ and asking the Holy Spirit to transform our behavior, words, and attitudes. In other words, we focus on changing ourselves, not our spouse. In candid detail, Chapman offers personal anecdotes from his own marriage, as well as stories that flesh out marital problems and solutions. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of marriage, such as its purpose, why people marry, the art of listening, decision making, sexual fulfillment, leaving and honoring parents, and financial planning. This book is a revised and updated edition of Chapman's Toward a Growing Marriage. Church libraries and marriage counselors will want this newer version. Ideally, it would make excellent reading and discussion material for couples before they marry. Yet, it offers examples and hope to couples in crisis situations, as well as those seeking to further strengthen an already wholesome marriage. - Heather Lynn Ivester, Christian Book Previews

Practical Marriage Counseling:
Dr. Chapman is one of those authors who is able to blend a certain degree of humor, practical advice (that actually works), and yet is able to basically tell it like he sees it, all without irritating the reader or giving up his pastorship in the process. I love this guy. Dr. Chapman wisely writes about the big hitters in a marriage; money, sex, personality, and even in-laws (something that is always needed to be discussed but rarely is). He does add a healthy dose of religion, but this shouldn't scare the non-religious reader because it is definitely not overbearing, nor is it "preachy" and you'd miss a whole lot of wonderful advice. This book is both suitable to the newly married, the veterans, and probably even those thinking about it. This book is an update to one of his earlier books, "Toward a Growing Marriage." If you've read the former, this book might not provide you with anything really new so you may want to choose another. However, if you haven't read the former, this book is definitely a more accessible version for the average reader so buy this one.

Relationship Intimacy is attainable...:
The concept of oneness and intimacy that Dr. Chapman reveals produces the most amazing and rewarding marriage realtionship possible. The more we practice his concepts, the better our marriage gets and it was good to start with.