I don’t usually read books about marriage, unless I know at least a of my couple closer married friends who can tell me all about them before I do. Almost every one that I’ve cracked open has almost immediately been disappointing. This and the fact that after I requested a copy of Love & War, I realized it was by the same authors of a book that I’d read several not so favorable reviews by people I know and trust, I wasn’t really sure it would even be worth my time to read it.
I do believe in making my own judgments about books and authors, and since I already had it, I figured I’d give it a try.
Well, I finished it yesterday and have mixed feelings about it. I found some encouraging bits, and even some convicting portions of ways that I fall short of being the wife and helpmeet I desire to be with all of my heart. It made some good points about what God created marriage to be and how hard Satan is going to work to use petty distractions and turn them into “big deals” to divide the union God is trying to forge. It had some beautiful sentences about God’s faithfulness and the healing of forgiveness in our lives.
But, in other ways I was a little disappointed. Personally, the style just wasn’t something I enjoy in this kind of a book. It was was fairly light, sometimes the funny lines felt a little forced and occasionally out of place in something so serious as a book about the war that we are in as couples. Many of the illustrations used were taken from movie after movie. While I do believe there are some well-played movies that do have helpful quotes and thoughts in them, somehow I am not entirely comfortable with the heavy roll that movies have in shaping our perspectives, especially in marriage because most of the time it is make believe. Real life, real marriages, real love stories are rarely the way they play out in some of these movies.
That said, I am certain that the message that I believe was being given through the book is good, and I know that it has helped couples to regain the vision of something beautiful in their marriage. I probably will be passing my copy of Love & War on to paperbackswap, but if only for those convicting moments, I don’t consider my time spent reading this book entirely wasted.
NOTE: This book is one I’d definitely categorize as for “Married Only” readers. It is probably most helpful to someone who has been married for a year or so, and I wouldn’t recommend it to young, unmarried readers because of that.
this book was a complimentary copy provided by Blogging for Books for review purposes only. the thoughts and opinions expressed are mine only.
