My Beloved and My Friend FB Party and Giveaway

Yep, that's right- tonight is the big celebration of the release of My Beloved and My Friend, a wonderfully book written by Hal and Melanie Young that I had the privilege to review.

I am here to tell you, you need this book!  And so do your friends!  Packed with ideas and encouragement to make your spouse your best friend, this book would make a great anniversary gift or even wedding present.

I hope you will join us tonight at 7pm EST to celebrate while Hal and Melanie bless several people with some fun gifts.  They are also allowing me to give away 1 digital copy of My Beloved and My Friend as well as the audio file.  Enter the Rafflecopter below to win and enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blessings,

My Beloved and My Friend- Book Review

Do you have a spouse?  How about a best friend?  Are they one in the same?  I would challenge you that they should be.  Yes, I know, we all need friendships outside of our marriages, but I really do believe that our best friend should be our spouse.  As my husband and I would testify, it has been the basis and success of our marriage for over 21 years.  Feelings of romantic love may come and go over seasons of your lives, but a best friend is someone who is committed through those seasons regardless of emotions.  There are many books out there on marriage, but a new one that trumps them all in my opinion is My Beloved and my Friend: How to be Married to Your Best Friend without Changing Spouses.  Written by Hal and Melanie Young, this 250 page book is filled with encouraging Biblical advice about how to marry and stay married to your best friend.  Written during a health crisis and intended to be used as a way to pass on information to their own children they felt was vital  pertaining to marriages, this book needs to be added to your library!

"There is potential for excitement and romance, and there can and should be a broad foundation of friendship underneath." page 3

Yes, I love anything put out by Hal and Melanie and this is no exception! The Youngs are the founders of Raising Real Men.  I have mentioned them in the past because I simply adore them!  The experience they have in raising 6 boys and 2 sweet girls makes them dynamic speakers and teachers in parenting.  Their almost 30 year Godly marriage makes them a pretty good resource for giving marriage advice.  Add to the fact that everything they speak of comes from their hearts and uses the Bible as the authoritative source, you cannot go wrong.

Twelve chapters are divided into 5 sections-
It Is Not Good For The Man To Be Alone
A Helper Suitable For Him
Fill The Earth and Subdue It
Have Dominion
and
In The Image Of God He Created Them

Each one taken from a specific verse in scripture gives inspiring stories, concrete ideas to try, and invaluable words of wisdom from a couple who has been there, done that!

I would be hard pressed to tell you which one was my favorite but let me tell you about a few things that have stayed with me since reading the book.

"If a lady believes her husband is on his way to becoming a great man, he will be.  If she has confidence in him, he'll have confidence in himself.  If she respects him, he will have self-respect.  If she believes in him, he will do everything in his power to live up to her expectations.." page 93  Oh, how I believe that and want to live that daily.  How often do we see couples tearing each other down when they should be each others' biggest fans and supporters?

"We would suggest that the question of labor division in the marriage is less about who does what than it is about advancing the family mission, enjoying one another, and serving one another." page 193   Amen!  I love that instead of telling men and woman what they SHOULD be doing, the Youngs allow for room what works best in each marriage.  While each of our situations may look different, the key is to work together and serve one another.  That's the kind of marriage I want!

"...wouldn't it make for peace if our first response to criticism was to consider our failings with humility rather than defend them with pride?" page 241  The word that got me there was PRIDE.  I wonder how many times we allow our pride to get in the way of a beautiful relationship?

Oh friends, those are only a small sample of the life changing words in this book.  I clung to every word.  I want to share it with my children and I want to share it with all of my friends, single and married.  Though I consider my marriage to be a strong one in which my husband truly is my best friend, this book opened my eyes to many areas I would like to improve, to many people I would like to bless with this book, and to a renewed faith that the Lord did masterfully create the union of husband and wife and that it is "not good that man should be alone:" Genesis 2:18

May you be blessed in reading it and convinced that you can "be married to your best friend without changing spouses!"

Pre-order a copy of My Beloved and My Friend: How to Be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses for Christmas Delivery – two months before its official release date of Valentine’s Day 2014!

 $12 for Pre-Orders Only – with Free Shipping!

Be among the first to read it!  Make your marriage even better!

http://raisingrealmen.com/marriagebook

CREW Review- A Cry From Egypt

Hal and Melanie Young, authors of the book and website Raising Real Men, are also the workhorses behind Great Waters Press, a publishing company dedicated to focusing on "Making Biblical Family Life Practical."  They have done this well in the past and have recently introduced a new fictional book to their lineup- A Cry From Egypt, by Hope Auer.
This is Hope!  She has been writing since she was a young child and has now begun a new Biblical, Historic fiction series called The Promised Land.  A Cry From Egypt, started when she was just 13 and as a homeschool assignment, is the first book to be published in that series. 

I love when young people follow a dream, and that is what Hope has done.  Homeschooled, and encouraged by her mom and dad, she put her love for words down on paper, caught the attention of Hal and Melanie Young, and got her book published.  No small feat for any young person.

This is Hope's book!  Geared for ages 8 and up, A Cry From Egypt follows a young slave in Egypt named Jarah.  The story is set during the return of Moses to plead with Pharaoh to set God's people free.  The plot takes many twists and turns throughout the story and kept us on the edge of our seat.  There is adventure, romance and lots of biblical information sprinkled throughout.  Like did you know that each of the 10 plagues were directly related to an Egyptian belief or superstition?

 

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book as a parent was that Hope did an excellent job of focusing on her story, while staying true to the Biblical account of the plagues in Egypt.  She allowed the Bible to speak for itself with the details she presented, neither adding nor subtracting from it.  Moses and Aaron were mentioned, but were carefully treated as minor characters, not presenting the need to make up additional information for them that the Bible does not supply.  Instead, one could enjoy the fictional characters Hope created and the adventures that they encountered.

 

My two cautions or concerns.  There are several scenes that I felt were a little brutal for younger children.  When people were beaten, I cringed.  For that reason, we did not use this book as a read out loud for my family as I had originally intended.  Instead my 14 year old daughter read it alone, and now my 10 year old son and I will read it together.  My second concern was the presentation of the relationship between the mother and father in the story.  It was tense at best, the father being a believer and the mother not.  It is a necessary part of Hope's story, but I was uncomfortable several times in the story with the disrespectful way the mother spoke to the father.  Again, while it is important to the story, we teach our children in this house about women Biblically submitting to their husbands and the importance of respect in the family.  The obvious contempt and disagreements between husband and wife bothered me, and will definitely be a point I bring up when reading and discussing it with my son.

 

That being said- did we like the book?  Yes!  It was maybe a little young for the 14 year old, but it was an encouragement to her to see a fellow homeschooler publish a book, something she would really like to do in the future.  I am excited about reading with my son next! I recommend it for those of you that enjoy bringing history to life with reading books.  I applaud Hope for her efforts and commend her on a job well done.  I encourage you to check out her website as well, A Cry From Egypt, as she is currently writing a series on how to write and publish a book.  I love how she is taking her God given talent and using it to help and teach others, and I am thrilled that Hal and Melanie Young saw something special in her and gave her a chance!

  You can buy A Cry From Egypt for $12.50 from Raising Young Men.     To read what fellow CREW mates had to say about this about and several other's published by the Youngs click on the banner below.     Disclaimer- I received a copy of A Cry From Egypt in exchange for my honest review.  Opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced by the publisher in any way.