Here I am late on Wednesday thinking about a bunch of different books I've read on marriage in the last few years. I'm kind of an addict of marriage books. I'm kind of an addict of my marriage, too!! heeheee…

Here are a couple of tidbits that I've garnered from some awesome resources!! 

…from Covenant Marriage by Gary Chapman…in my own words…

Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. Think about what a contract entails – You do this, so I will do this. I will do this, so that you will do this. What is a covenant? It is not a list, but a promise. Think about the covenant God had with Noah after the flood. He said he would never again flood the entire earth, and he put a rainbow in the sky as a reminder! When we get married we are making a covenant…a promise…to be with that person, to love that person, (for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…) to respect and obey that person. And this promise, these promises are not contingent on anything else the other person may say or do or how they treat you! (don't get me wrong…I do not agree with staying in an abusive situation!!) We cannot change our spouses, but we can change ourselves and the way we act and react with our precious spouses. I personally think it's easier when we have a covenant to stand on…in our house, there is no choice…we've made a promise to each other and we will stick by that promise!!

…from Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (I guess he is one of my fave marriage authors)…in my own words…

Ohhh this book is amazing! It's based on the principle that people have their own "love language"… theway they say, "I LOVE YOU!" They are: 1. Quality Time; 2. Acts of Service; 3. Physical Touch; 4. Words of Affirmation; and 5. Receiving Gifts. You get the gist of what these languages mean, but let me tell you just a hair more. And you can always read the book to get much more in depth!! In our house, we each have a main love language and a secondary love language. This means that when Mr Gorgeous buys me something, or even just brings me a little box of chocolates from the hotel he stays in CA, I hear him saying "I LOVE YOU!" We joke about him wrapping a loaf of bread and giving it to me just because I LOVE receiving gifts. I also love spending time…just sitting in the same room as Mr Gorgeous is quality for me…with him. That is my secondary love language. Now, he loves physical touch. At night, we've gotten into the habit of me scratching his head which puts us both to sleep almost instantaneously! Just that little touch tells him, "I LOVE YOU!" from me! This is sooo necessary in a marriage! We need to hear each other's language!! We want to talk in our own, but it means even more to talk in theirs, too!!

…here's a fun book of devotionals you can read together! Moments Together by Dennis and Barbara Rainey! Love them! they also do a marriage conference all over the country that is awesome!!!!

 …also, here's is the best Marriage book ever…{my sister gives this to every newlywed couple at their wedding ceremony that she goes to!} Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Omgosh, this book is incredible, and incredibly worth reading together with your sweet spouse!! I actually found it at our local homeschool store for 50 cents! and it was worth the time it took me to read it! (be warned, it's long…but ohhh so worth it!)

And of course, my current fave…Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs. 

my last note on today's wisdom…

yes, it is all worth it…

to be loved unconditionally, 

to LOVE unconditionally, 

to respect and adore a man who tends to adore me more that i can even imagine! 

all of the work that marriage takes? 

it's worth it!!