For Better or for Kids
A Vow to Love Your Spouse with Kids in the House
By Patrick and Ruth Schwenk
Published by Zondervan
Book Description:
The transition from “married” to “married with children” can be tough. Before they know it, a once youthful and energetic married couple finds themselves in a minivan loaded with noisy kids and littered with Cheerios, crusty Sippy cups, banana peels, and missing library books. As much as you love your children and work hard to nurture and train them for the future, the challenges that come with parenthood can make the “for better or for worse” promise a hard one to honor.
For Better or For Kids will enable couples to: • Build a God-centered marriage instead of a Child-centered or Me-centered marriage • Avoid the dangers of spouse-neglect and self-neglect • Effectively communicate in the chaos • Explore ways to parent together as one team • Find balance in the busyness
For Better or For Kids is about remembering that even when you feel worn out, over-extended, and neglected, you promised to be a team. Marriage with kids may not always be what we expected, but it is good. We need to make a vow to love our spouse with kids in the house.
My Review:
This is a great book for anyone to read, whether you’re just starting out in marriage or you are already married with kids, or your remarrying and blending your family. The book focuses on how to love each other with your children running around still, how to keep your marriage in focus while still dealing with your day to day life as a family. It encourages your passion and romance, while understanding that raising a family is challenging.
For Better or For Kids, helps you to keep your marriage God-Centered, as opposed to today’s focus of your child or your self. It encourages you to put God first, your spouse and then your children, as God’s Biblical Plan provides for us to do. It encourages you to keep your marriage focused on Christ, while still finding time for romance and care for each other.
The book contains a Contents page with 13 featured chapters. Each chapter covers a different aspect of marriage: the messiness of marriage, sex, parenting, even rest when you’re running empty and much more. There is a multitude of information provided within the many pages of this small, paperback book.
As a married mother of four, I found this book an encouraging perspective on so many things. I learned a lot about balance, about Grace, about working together with my husband for the good of our family. It was very encouraging to know I am not alone in the things we want for our family and life as a husband and wife, as well as a mother.
For Better or For Kids is available for purchase online or at book retailers near you. It’s listed price is currently $16.99 at the time of this review.
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