I received a free copy of Love to Stay, by Adam Hamilton. I really enjoyed reading this book. Love to Stay was written to help couples recognize the steps to stay married. I was really impressed by the easy read, even with the infuse of scriptures that are located throughout the book.
Tips to Help Couples Establish Lasting Relationships
Pastor Hamilton does a really good job in sharing his own personal marriage & thoughts into the book & sharing how his thinking, his upbringing, his environment formed his thinking. However, he allows you to see how he was thinking but after reaching deep & studying God’s word in regards to marriage he was able to change his way of thinking.
He ties in how the love for God will help you to become the “perfect” spouse for your spouse. Now don’t get the word perfect misconstrued. We all know no one is perfect; however, we can have the perfect attributes to compliment our spouse.
Being who God made us to be and using those traits to compliment our spouse’s traits will only be viewed as “perfect” for our spouse.
Let’s be real about this marriage thing: Every day will not be roses & every day you may not feel like you are in love with your spouse. What everyday will bring to you is the opportunity to build on your marital foundation and learn more about yourself & your spouse. The most important thing to remember to help your love to stay is: build a foundation early on how you guys will learn about each other and build on the learning throughout your marriage.
For us, it was important to us that we work as a team in all things. This practice helped to solidify our bond, love and commitment to the health of our marriage.
Even during those “learning” days, Hamilton points out in the book that no topic, big or small, should be off limits or to explosive to explore as a couple. The issues facing married couples today are “real” and must be approached, discussed, and handled with love and understanding. This will only enhance and improve the longevity of marriages.
[pullquote]Marriage is a calling from God to care for, bless, and serve another![/pullquote]
Love To Stay reveals what couples want
In all relationships, the partners have a list of items they are expecting or needing from their partners. Love To Stay explored a few of these items.
- Sexual Intimacy
- Establishing a game plan to overcome hurtful habits
- Pinpoint conflicts that destroys the marriage foundation
- Avoiding ongoing negativity
- Establishing environments of forgiveness and healing
- Relationship satisfaction
Now my favorite part of this book is the reinforcement at the end of each chapter called: Reflect and Engage. Reflect & Engage gives the reader an opportunity to put into practice what they have just read. The theme of the chapter is reenforced through story, activity, prayer, and activities for the individual spouse or the couples together.
I truly recommend this book to all couples. If you want a book that is easy to read, easy to understand & also give you practical tidbits you can apply immediately to your marriage: Love to Stay is the book.
Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest Methodist church in the United States. The congregation has been named one of the ten most influential churches in the country. Hamilton was asked by the White House to preach at the National Prayer Service as part of the presidential inauguration festivities in 2013. A master at explaining difficult questions of faith in a down-to-earth-fashion, Hamilton is the best-selling and award-winning author of Forgiveness, Why?, The Way, 24 Hours that Changed the World, When Christians Get It Wrong and Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, and twelve other books, all published by Abingdon Press. He can be found online at AdamHamilton.org.
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Megan says
That sounds like a wonderful book for any couple to read. I’ll check it out!
Sharon says
Love is definitely a choice not just a feeling! This sounds like a great book that we all need to read!
Mandi says
I loved this! I definitely want to read the book with Buckaroo! We are always looking for marriage resources so we can love to stay too! 🙂
Amber Trievel says
That sounds like a great book. Too many people don’t take marriage seriously these days or blame the failure on everything they have seen and been accustomed to. Nice to see someone who can share overcoming that and making things work!
Amber says
Thanks for sharing, this sounds like a very sweet book
Jesica H says
Sounds like a great book. And you are right, every day will not be roses but if you put in the effort marriage can be successful!
Still Dating My Spouse says
Jessica,
It is a great book & one that is easy to read. Thanks for stopping by.
Still Dating My Spouse says
Amber,
As the number of divorces rises, we can definitely see that people are not taking marriage serious & they should.
Still Dating My Spouse says
Thanks for dropping by Mandi, We try to give couples information to help build their marriage.