"Marriage is fabulously hard." Not exactly the most romantic or fairy-tale description of marriage! But that is the premise from which John & Stasi Eldredge begin their book, Love & War: Find Your Way to Something Beautiful in Your Marriage. John and Stasi share very honestly (often painfully so) passages in their own twenty-five year marriage as they describe this important relationship as "a great love story, set in the midst of war."
At some points, the message of the book seems discouraging and depressing, as the authors paint the picture that the difficulties and disappointments of marriage are inevitable, that they are common to all marriages. The Eldredges describe marriage as a love story that God is telling, but a story fiercely opposed by the Enemy. They remind couples, though, that fighting together in God's strength against the Enemy rather than against each other is the way to win the war. At some times, John and Stasi blend their thoughts and experiences, and at others they share from their individual male and female perspectives to give a more well-rounded view of marriage.
While it seemed that in some ways this book presented more problems than solutions, I believe it contains useful guidance and direction for married couples -- whether newly married or many years down the road.
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(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for my honest review.)
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