A Marriage Of The Heart

A marriage manual designed to help couples take their relationship to a deeper level by focusing on centering, choice, honor, compassion, and listening, among other important values.

Abigail Kauffman is looking for a way out; Joseph Lambert is seeking a way in. Since her mother's death, Abby has lived alone with her father and longs to escape the emptiness of the farmhouse that has never felt like home. Joseph Lambert is a newcomer in their close-knit community. Only after they find themselves suddenly married to each other do they begin to understand the tender truths of life-long love.

Marriage is God's idea. He has no bad ideas. He brought Eve to Adam, married them and they lived as husband and wife for over 900 years (Genesis 2:21-25 and 5:5). By this, we can conclude that divorce was not God's idea but Satan's idea, to destroy God's ideas, plans and purpose of marriage between a man and a woman. We seek to find the right person when the greater picture is to be the right person. Man sets the time for the wedding, but God sets the time for the marriage. There is a great difference between a wedding and a marriage. Many walk down the aisle to be wedded for all the wrong reasons. Saying "I do" and placing wedding rings upon fingers does not always mean they are married within their hearts. This book reveals that a man and a woman may marry, and yet not be a true husband and wife. It stresses the importance of friendship, courtship, engagement and being married from the heart. Introducing a revolutionary approach to the covenant of marriage, this book addresses commitment, romance, love, keeping a right heart, a sound mind and a pure relationship. Dr. Donald R. Downing is a heart physician and specialist from God to the body of Christ. He has written over 12 books, and considers Marriage from the Heart to be one of his most important writings. He believes the only way to defeat the high rate of divorce and separation is to restore romance to the relationship and to be truly married from the heart. FEATURING DRS. MELVIN AND ROBIN THORNHILL Melvin and Robin Thornhill are the founders and presidents of Destiny New Image Ministries. They have a combined 50 years of experience in family and marriage counseling.

The best marriages are not necessarily the most perfect and picturesque. Marriage is about walking together through all of life's ups and downs, its challenges and triumphs. And no relationship offers more chances for personal and spiritual growth, love and support, and just plain fun. Collecting true stories from some of today's best writers, Dawn Camp offers readers a chance to sit back and reflect on the heart of marriage. With beautiful photographs and poignant prose, this collection is a great gift for the bride-to-be, the couple celebrating a significant anniversary, or for any time readers need a lift. Contributors include Holley Gerth, Kristen Welch, Emily Wierenga, Renee Swope, and many more.

Asrindel has always wanted to marry for love, but as a prince of Sasalianis, he knew it wasn't terribly likely. Still, when his parents tell him that he's to be married to Pylec, a prince of Vendir, he's devastated. Vendir is a country as unlike Sasalianis as possible. Where Vendir is a martial, cold country, Sasalianis is warm and welcoming. And where Vendirans are violent and harsh, Sasalianisans are artists, with all that that entails.Nonetheless, as a prince of Sasalianis, Asrindel knows his duty, and so he enters into a marriage of shelter with Pylec. It's not what he hoped for, but he is determined to make it work. And, if he's very lucky, he'll be able to fall in love with the man that he's married to, though with every passing day that seems less and less likely.There's also the small, unimportant matter of someone trying to kill him. Asrindel has no idea why anyone would want to do that, but he isn't interested in dying, especially not when he still has his whole life ahead of him, and a marriage of hearts to try and achieve.

Isn't sexual -- or emotional -- intimacy enough? "No," says Christian psychologist Dr. David Clarke. "Spiritual bonding is the process by which a couple cultivates the presence of God in their relationship," he says, "and it's the only 'glue' that sustains relationships long-term." Working with hundreds of couples, Clarke observes that when we take specific steps to keep God at the center of our relationships, every area of intimacy is energized. This book teaches men and women in a committed relationship how to pray together, create "spiritual conversations," read and study Scripture together, hold private worship sessions, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide them. It's extremely practical counsel all couples need today.

The wedding is planned, but are you spiritually prepared for your wedding day? Trusted relationship author Gary Thomas coaches engaged couples on how to grow closer to the Lord in the days leading up to the wedding as a means of preparing them for all the days after the wedding. Engagement is bursting with promise, hope, joy, and anticipation of all kinds. It can also be one of the busiest times your life. For some, planning a wedding, with all the decisions involved, can feel less like the exciting onset of marriage and more like a tedious to-do list. Amidst the busyness, this devotional is designed to encourage and guide you through the spiritual priorities and challenges that lie ahead in order to grow a joy-filled marriage filled with love, grace, and God's blessing. In addition to helping you celebrate the joys of marriage and become radically connected as you create an even deeper passionate relationship, this lovely book also provides encouraging entries that will help you deal with common issues such as: Building physical and emotional intimacy Repairing trust Celebrating differences Being a team player Managing finances With a special section on the marriage vows and thoughtful meditations for the bride and groom, Preparing Your Heart for Marriage will help you grow in your relationship as a couple on your journey from “me” to “we.”

Winner of the Silver Nautilus Award for Journalism & Investigative Reporting "Elizabeth Flock takes us on an intimate cruise on the shifting sea of the heart, in the best book set in Bombay that I've read in years. Flock's total access to her characters, and her highly sympathetic and nonjudgmental gaze, prove that love and literature know no borders. Easily the most intimate account of India that I've read, and of value to anybody that believes in love and marriage."—Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City "This remarkable debut is so deeply reported, elegantly written, and profoundly transporting that it reads like a novel you can’t put down. It’s both a nuanced and intimate evocation of Indian culture, and a provocative and exciting meditation on marriage itself."—Katie Roiphe, author of The Violet Hour In the vein of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, an intimate, deeply reported and revelatory examination of love, marriage, and the state of modern India—as witnessed through the lives of three very different couples in today’s Mumbai. In twenty-first-century India, tradition is colliding with Western culture, a clash that touches the lives of everyday Indians from the wealthiest to the poorest. While ethnicity, class, and religion are influencing the nation’s development, so too are pop culture and technology—an uneasy fusion whose impact is most evident in the institution of marriage. The Heart Is a Shifting Sea introduces three couples whose relationships illuminate these sweeping cultural shifts in dramatic ways: Veer and Maya, a forward-thinking professional couple whose union is tested by Maya’s desire for independence; Shahzad and Sabeena, whose desperation for a child becomes entwined with the changing face of Islam; and Ashok and Parvati, whose arranged marriage, made possible by an online matchmaker, blossoms into true love. Though these three middle-class couples are at different stages in their lives and come from diverse religious backgrounds, their stories build on one another to present a layered, nuanced, and fascinating mosaic of the universal challenges, possibilities, and promise of matrimony in its present state. Elizabeth Flock has observed the evolving state of India from inside Mumbai, its largest metropolis. She spent close to a decade getting to know these couples—listening to their stories and living in their homes, where she was privy to countless moments of marital joy, inevitable frustration, dramatic upheaval, and whispered confessions and secrets. The result is a phenomenal feat of reportage that is both an enthralling portrait of a nation in the midst of transition and an unforgettable look at the universal mysteries of love and marriage that connect us all.