Cherish

I have never done this on my blog before, but I just had to share this fabulous book with you!!

I had the joy of being both Gary and Lisa's (his wife) friend while we all attend university together.  We shared many great conversations and fun times, and I was honored to be a guest at their wedding.  I watched the birth of Gary's desire to become a writer as he wrote paper after paper in his dorm room, and loved his heart's desire to impact people through his writing.    Fast forward thirty odd years and it has been nothing but a joy to see how God has used his writing to impact the lives of countless marriages, Christian and otherwise.

I have personally read four of his books (Sacred Marriage, Sacred Influence, Every Body Matters, Sacred Search), and my marriage has been blessed because of them!  My teenage daughter is currently reading Sacred Search - a fabulous book about choosing a spouse - and loving it!     

If you have read Sacred Marriage (if not it is another powerful book!) this takes it to another level.  The book affirmed what I knew to be true, opened my eyes to a few things, admonished me in his gentle way of wording things, challenged me to evaluate my level of "cherishing" my husband, and provided some ideas to deepen and grow "cherish" in our marriage.  And provided a wonderful tool/  opportunity to grow as a couple and strengthen our marriage.      

He did not delve into abusive relationships, nor did he say if you cherish each other that would diminish/cease. What he does provide is a gently worded challenge to evaluate our level of "cherishing" our spouse to allow the relationship to grow to a deeper level.    As Gary says: "you can love someone and not cherish them, but you can't cherish them and not love them", "love and cherish never compete - they compliment and even complete each other", and "cherish" is like being the male ballet dance who is grateful to helps the prima ballerina shine more brightly than if she were just dancing on her own and being glad to play that supportive role". 

I will definitely be buying a hard copy of his book and re-reading it with a highlighter in hand.  It is full of powerful words that can dramatically change any relationship, especially your marriage.   Love Gary's mandate for Christian couples:  "Cherish is a simple formula but a powerful one:  preach the gospel to yourself and then live out the gospel.  That is the power to cherish - believing and receiving the gospel in which we are cherished beyond all measure and then living out the implications to cherish each other".   That being said, though written with Christian couples in mind, this book has something for everyone in any sort of a relationship.

A great read I highly recommend!!