Another long “in-between” blog posts for me. Same excuse:

Little baby Derek has joined our family, and I absolutely love him so much, it’s kind of hard to put him down long enough to type with both hands! But, I have had a little bit more time to read- while relaxing… as much as I can relax with three little boys!

This book, Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs was an interesting read for me.

My husband and I have a great marriage relationship. I don’t feel like we’re struggling, in any serious way. But, I chose this book (which was provided to me free of charge from BookSneeze) because I like to find any little thing to help improve communication and relationships. Plus, it kind of sounded interesting.

Here’s the synopsis:

Based upon Ephesians 5:33 and extensive biblical and psychological research, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs reveals the power of unconditional love and unconditional respect and how husbands and wives can reap the benefits of marriage that God intended.

I have to say, my expectations were set too high for this book. It was a good read. It was interesting. But, it wasn’t anything very new. All of the reviews (within the book) talked about how it’s such a new concept, “I’ve never heard of anything like it,” “It’s legendary and changed my life.” Well, I can see how it might help change someone’s life and relationship, but I didn’t feel like it was anything new.

My biggest peave while reading the book was that NOT ALL WOMEN are harsh to their husbands, as it made them sound. I can think of a couple of women who could desperately use this book. But, I felt like it’s one of those things… preaching to the choir. The women who need to read it, who treat their husbands rough, and show no respect- they won’t read it. (Unless their marriage is in serious bad shape, in which case, I would definitely recommend this book for them.)

As for the advice to men… it was sound advice. Women need to feel loved. I get that. I understand that. It’s true. But, like I said, that’s nothing new to the world of marriage advice.

My favorite part of the book was the examples of couples who had tried the concept of unconditional love and unconditional respect and had benefited from it. Some of the examples were basic- a couple that easily could’ve been my husband and I. Most were outrageous- like the couples that I know who nag each other, and yell and treat each other unkindly. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I didn’t really like the book.

It was a long read. It was redundant. It just wasn’t anything new!