June was the month for weddings, so I was thinking there may be some newlyweds out there who are ready to read their first help-me-I-don’t-know-this-person-I-married type book. We’ve all been there, so it’s o.k. to laugh about it.

The latest offering I know of is When Sinners Say “I Do” by Dave Harvey. The response to this book (so far as I know) is overwhelmingly positive. Discerning Reader has a review and interview with the author. Westminster Bookstore is also featuring a review with Harvey. The questions and answers are a little different, so you might like to read both of them.

The family I worked for while I was in college had this book on their shelf. The husband and wife had/have a wonderful relationship, so I figured the book must have helped. (I know, I’m completely naive.) So, after Karl and I married, this is one of the first ones I bought. It’s an oldie but a goodie, in my opinion.

From the publisher: “Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply.” This one is in my to-read stack.

This is an excellent book!!

Karl and I even spent time reading a couple of “before you say ‘I Do’” type books after we got engaged. We did an interactive study together. I remember it being lots of fun to answer the questions and talk about what we wanted life to be like after the wedding. Some things we’ve stuck to, like …well, I’m not sure we’ve stuck to our “plan” exactly, but it was fun to pretend like we were going to before we got married. Marriage is funny like that. The only thing I can think of is that he said he would take care of our vehicles and he still does that. Of course, he does that because he wants to keep them running. However, if I had a working knowledge of car maintenance beyond checking the oil (I had to prove I could do it to pass driver’s ed. in high school), then I’m sure he’d relinquish the duties.

I think I’ll pull out our old pre-marriage study and re-read our answers. That might make an interesting, albeit embarrassing, series of posts.