Build a Love that Lasts At a time when more people are delaying marriage or writing it off altogether, those ready to walk the aisle will appreciate a frank and trusted resource to help them start marriage on the right foot. This practical guide will help you explore your relationship in depth and will provide new insight into your partner and how the two of you relate to one another establish your wants and needs as individuals and a couple before your marriage begins lay the groundwork for open and honest conversation for a stronger, healthier marriage reveal how life events and family background can influence decision making in finances, family, education, faith, and career engage you in activities that lead to thought-provoking discussion addressing your past experiences and current expectations Engaging and easy-to-use, Before You Say "I Do" is full of tried and true wisdom to help you plan for your future and build a lasting relationship with the one you love.
Open Your Heart a Lasting Love Before you tie the knot, make sure the rope is strong. Let these insightful and inspiring devotions minister to your heart as you begin to develop a daily habit of spending time with God. Best-selling author and counselor H. Norman Wright’s has mentored more than a million dating and engaged couples with his interactive and easy-to-use books on marriage. Through Scripture, storytelling, and thought-provoking questions, each of these devotions serve as a tool to initiate honest and heartfelt conversation between you and your partner. Whether you’re already engaged or still getting to know each other, you can build a strong and healthy relationship with open communication, respect for one another, and trust in God.
Take comfort in knowing that God hears you. The story of Hannah in 1 Samuel tells of one woman’s personal heartache and trust in the One who could fulfill her desires. She poured her heart out to God, and He heard her. The Our Daily Bread devotions selected for this collection reassure you that God is with you, God is for you, and God hears you. The personal stories and Scripture passages lift you up and remind you that God is bigger than the trials you face.
Everybody waits. We wait for a spouse, wait for a baby, wait on our children, wait for our parents. We wait for clarity and direction. We wait on a job, a promotion, a new direction. We wait for hope, for healing, and for miracles. We wait on God. And when we misunderstand what waiting is about, we can get confused about what God is up to. Waiting is one of God’s favorite tools. He can do certain things in our hearts, our lives, and our relationships while we wait—things we cannot experience once we’ve opened the gift we have been waiting for. So just you wait, because everyone takes their turn in the waiting room. It’s a long and painful fact of life, but shortcuts and microwaves aren’t the answer. God is at work behind the scenes in invisible ways you can’t see . . . yet. Just you wait and see how ready you’ll be if you spend your waiting well. Because when your opportunity comes, you don’t want to spend more time on the bench. When you wait well, you can say, “Look out, world: I am getting ready to shine. Just you wait.” In these pages, Tricia discusses the joy hidden in the discipline of waiting, and the practices of believing God is for you and working on your behalf, even when the work of His hand is hard to find.
Build a Christ-Centered Love that Lasts At a time when more people are delaying marriage or writing it off altogether, couples ready to walk the aisle will appreciate a frank and trusted resources to help them start marriage on the right foot. This interactive Christian guide will help you explore your relationship in depth and will provide new insight into your partner and how the two of you relate to one another establish your wants and needs as individuals and a couple before your marriage begins lay the groundwork for biblical and honest conversation for a stronger, healthier marriage reveal how life events and family background can influence decision making in finances, family, education, faith and career engage you in activities that lead to thought-provoking discussion that address your past experiences and current expectations Engaging and easy-to-use, Before You Say “I Do” is full of tried-and-true wisdom to help you plan for your future and build a lasting relationship with the one you love.
What if God has purposed your marriage for something so much more than "happily ever after?" Since the very beginning, God's design for marriage has been for husbands and wives to be ambassadors of holy love to a hurting world. Still, too many couples stop short at happy and wonder why they feel unsatisfied. Rather than "you and me against the world," God calls each couple to the rich and meaningful mission of "you and me for the world." In Marriage After God, Aaron and Jennifer Smith, popular marriage bloggers at HusbandRevolution.com and UnveiledWife.com, transparently share their own journey of turning a marriage in crisis into a marriage built on Christ's redemptive love. With fresh biblical insight and intimate stories of their own struggles and victories, this book will guide you toward a God-centered, ministry-minded, and thriving marriage. Throughout Marriage After God, you'll learn to: Discover the signature marks of a marriage after God Find principles for building an unshakable marriage foundation Let God's story take the lead in your love story Recognize the tools God has already equipped you with for a missional life together Filled with timeless wisdom, this thorough and practical book will empower you and your spouse to dream, decide, and do as you step hand in hand into God's ultimate purpose for your marriage. God has created your remarkable, romantic, and redemptive relationship to be a powerful light to a dark and hurting world. Let Marriage After God be your invitation to marriage as God intended--a life-saving, hope-inspiring, and transforming force of God's love. Praise for Marriage After God: "This book is an incredible resource for anyone trying to grow or step into a healthier and more life-giving marriage. Aaron and Jen pull no punches; are honest, raw, and authentic; and show that a marriage in pursuit of Jesus can change the world." --Jefferson Bethke, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion "There is a short list of books I'm stashing away for my three small kiddos to read when they are older--Marriage After God is one of them. Dear couples of the world, you have picked up a treasure! This book will give you clear direction to live out God's will for your marriage. There is no greater gift you can give yourselves than to run after Him together. Marriage After God will show you how!" --Lara Casey, author of Cultivate and Make It Happen
100 courage-building moments to help girls 8-12 explore who they are, easing their fears and anxiety, while inspiring them to strive towards the woman they want to be through this exciting yet confusing season of change. From Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and blogger, Lynn Cowell, comes Faithgirlz’ Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You. These 100 motivating moments guide tween girls to reflect on Scripture and find confidence in God, rather than in someone, some place, or some thing, as pop culture is already telling them. Throughout these pages—formatted as theme-based mini chapters that can be read once a day, once a week, or at the reader’s own pace—Lynn prepares tween girls to: Overcome confidence-defeating thoughts and stand on who Jesus says she is. Build a strong foundation to face the fickle, sometimes hurtful opinions of others. Find approval of herself even when she lacks the acceptance of others. Walk confidently through the exciting, yet scary world of growing up by turning to Christ step by step. Featuring a gorgeous, foil decorated hardcover and beautifully formatted pages modeled after the well-known and loved Faithgirlz brand of books, Lynn’s relatable, conversational tone makes it easy for girls to feel like they’re in a safe place spending time with a close friend.
Among Christian devotional works, My Utmost for His Highest stands head and shoulders above the rest, with more than 13 million copies sold. But most readers have no idea that Oswald Chambers's most famous work was not published until ten years after his death. The remarkable person behind its compilation and publication was his wife, Biddy. And her story of living her utmost for God's highest is one without parallel. Bestselling novelist Michelle Ule brings Biddy's story to life as she traces her upbringing in Victorian England to her experiences in a WWI YMCA camp in Egypt. Readers will marvel at this young woman's strength as she returns to post-war Britain a destitute widow with a toddler in tow. Refusing personal payment, Biddy proceeds to publish not just My Utmost for His Highest, but also 29 other books with her husband's name on the covers. All the while she raises a child alone, provides hospitality to a never-ending stream of visitors and missionaries, and nearly loses everything in the London Blitz during WWII. The inspiring story of a devoted woman ahead of her times will quickly become a favorite of those who love true stories of overcoming incredible odds, making a life out of nothing, and serving God's kingdom.
A weekday devotional to help Christians connect the gospel to their vocation and appreciate the eternal significance of their work—no matter what it is—from the entrepreneur, thought leader, and bestselling author of Redeeming Your Time. Perhaps you feel as if the work you do carries less eternal impact than the work of a pastor or missionary. But that’s not how God sees it. Whatever it looks like day to day, your work is ministry and central to God’s plans to restore fallen creation. As the days of creation reveal, God is quite familiar with work himself. He created humans with unique giftings and interests, specifically so we can pursue his redemptive work in partnership with him. The Word Before Work features 260 readings—one for every workday of the year—to help you see how your work connects to God’s work in the world. The first four weeks set the foundation by exploring: • what work means in light of the biblical narrative • why our work matters • five ways these truths inform how we should work today The rest of this one-year devotional takes you on a journey through Scripture to explore God’s perspective on the work he has called you to do. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, barista, stay-at-home parent, CEO, or coach, The Word Before Work affirms how God created you for work, why it matters, and the ways it holds significance both now and for eternity.
