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L.O.V.E. Putting Your Love Styles to Work for You: Book Review
L.O.V.E. : Putting Your Love Style to Work for You by Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott
I opened this book, turned to the first chapter and saw this quote:
“I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” – Rita Rudner
I am still laughing! Okay, so if you are married, you have probably realized by now that living with another person has its ups and downs. You both have those little quirks in your habits or personality that didn’t seem so glaring before the vows were said. So why do you behave the way you do? And why does he behave the way he does?
It has a lot to do with your personal LOVE style. Are you a Leader? An Optimist? A Validator? An Evaluator? I had a hard time deciding whether I am an Optimist or a Validator. I think I am a mixture of both. I married a Leader.
Wow! I have to say that as far as the personality descriptions – this book was right on! I loved the second part of the book best. It teaches you how to best LOVE your spouse with chapters titled “If You’re Married to a Leader,” “If You’re Married to an Optimist,” etc. This is a book you can read with your husband or just for yourself if your husband doesn’t like to read self-help books.
From the Back Cover:
The letters L.O.V.E. represent four personality dimensions that make up your personal ‘love style.’ Once you know your own love style and that of your spouse, you will be able to love him or her in a way that will help you get the love you need in return.
Relationship experts Drs. Les& Leslie Parrott stand on a mountain of research to show you how this single insight can draw you closer together. Never before have we had such an easy-to-use and scientifically proven tool for pinpointing each person’s approach to love. You’ll discover how much these dimensions inform your love style:
- L – Leader: The Take-Charge Spouse
- O – Optimist: The Encouraging Spouse
- V – Validator: The Devoted Spouse
- E – Evaluator: The Careful Spouse
The L.O.V.E. online assessment, in combination with this book, will show you how you are designed to approach everything from communication and conflict to sex and intimacy. This is not your typical marriage book. It’s a practical tool for learning how to express love to your spouse and feel truly loved in return.
I highly recommend this book to you married women out there. It will help you better understand your spouse. For more information you can visit the Parrotts website RealRelationships.com.
Creating an Intimate Marriage – Book Review
“There is no doubt in my mind that this book will disturb you, inspire you, give you some great ideas, and also help you realize (as if you didn’t already know this) that to bring more connection, intimacy, and spirituality to your marriage it will take a great deal of focus.” Page 11
Jim Burns’s host of HomeWord radio broadcast, uses his own marriage of 30 plus years, in his attempt to show us how to have a more intimate marriage. If you’ve longed for a more intimate marriage but struggled with the know-how, and implementation process this book is for you and your spouse. The author shows step by step the differences through Affection, Warmth and Encouragement (A.W.E.) method has made in his own marriage. If you are anything like me, when you are presented with the knowledge of what needs to happen there is often a gap in between actually implementing the changes. Not with this book, the author has Questions for me, Questions for us and a final set of questions called Heart-to-Heart HomeWork. These questions will spur even the greatest procrastinators into action. They get you asking, answering and sharing with your spouse. They also show ways of implementing the steps that need to be changed to have more A.W.E. in your marriage.
Mr. Burns has the reader concentrate on change. But wait, I know what you are thinking, “Yes, my spouse needs to change; I wish they would do this, or they need to stop doing that.” The author takes the reader and helps them realize that no change can take place unless, you, the reader is willing to make the necessary evaluations and changes first. Not our significant other. The author’s goal is to help the reader take a serious look at their own life, behavior within the marriage and than evaluate the necessary changes they can make first in the marriage. All the while using the A.W.E. method.
Jim Burns is the founder of HomeWord Radio Broadcast. He is a highly respected in youth ministry and family issues. He is the author of several books including “Addicted to God, Surviving Adolescence.” He also writes the popular “What’s Up With My Life?” column for Ignite Your Faith magazine. Jim graduated Magna Cum Laude from Azusa Pacific University, earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Princeton Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in Religious Education from Greenwich School of Theology.
This book is written from the self-help marriage perspective. Based on similar books that I have read on this subject I would give this book a 5 on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest. It helps the reader take self-help to the next level by actually getting both spouses involved in the process all the while having them focus on personal change. With the A.W.E. method you will find affection, warmth and encouragement returning right away to the marriage relationship.
Review by Melissa Waters
Hugs, Hope, and Peanut Butter
Finding the Light Behind the Clouds
Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter
by Marsha Mott Jordan, the creator of Hugs and Hope Foundation
Illustrated by Critically Ill Children
Who hasn’t been depressed or discouraged, weary from struggling with the difficulties we all face in life? Now be honest. We all have. Do you want to quit? Throw in the towel and walk away?
Well… this author understands exactly how you feel as she has faced many losses in her own personal life. She has dedicated this book to the special people in her life that she lost along life’s journey. Through her own losses and struggles, the author shares with us the one constant in her life, God. He has never left her or forsaken her, just as His word promises.
It is Marsha’s hope that as you read about her journey through life that you will learn from the lessons she’s learned.
Her amazing journey and the stories of those included within her book were all written to help the reader find hope, encouragement and perseverance in this race we all call life. Most of all she hopes you will learn to laugh and smile.
The lesson’s of her life and others that are written in this book share what God has for all of us as His children. Humor permeates the pages of this book, but don’t let that fool you there is Bible wisdoms shared within as well.
Some of the lessons we will see the author has learned are in pain, sorrow, and struggles. Some of the chapters include: I’m okay, you’re not okay, but that’s okay; Looking up; Learning to trust. Interwoven within each story you will find nuggets from God’s Word to shine the light of hope into the reader’s life.
Did you know that hugs reduce stress, tension and boost your immunity to sickness? They also raise your self-esteem and lowers blood pressure.
Marsha is also the creator of Hugs and Hope foundation. She began this non profit organization when her own grandson was burned badly. It was her heartfelt desire to put more joy into the lives of seriously ill and injured children. At the request of many of the parents who have received Marsha’s newsletter over the years, she put all her stories in book form.
So what are you waiting for grab your copy today and sit down with the Peanut Butter Queen and find hope again.
Review by Melissa Waters
Twelve Extraordinary Women – Book Review
Twelve Extraordinary Women
How God Shaped Women of the BibleAnd What He Wants to Do with You
by John MacArthur
Published by Nelson Books
Written as a sequel to the best selling book “Twelve Ordinary Men”, John MacArthur’s character study formats deal with the lives of 12 principal women of Scripture.He states that it was a hard decision to decided which women to include in his character study, finally he chose what he feels are 12 women who are critical to the story of redemption.
As the journey begins into each of their lives, you’ll discover spiritual lessons that have been taken directly from the trials of Jesus followers and relatives.The lives of Eve, the mother of all, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Mary, The Samaritan woman, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene and Lydia are revealed in brief character studies.From each one of these women lives we see the ordinary, common and in some cases low on the social scale lifestyles, yet each of them were made extraordinary by a life-changing encounter with God.These women are woman we can relate to as we see aspects of our own character in their personalities, short comings, struggles, failures and most of all their deep seated desire to be everything Christ wants them to be.
It will fill you with hope as you see these ordinary women transformed into the extraordinary, not because of any of their own natural qualities or traits, but because the one true God refined them like silver.As their lives unfolded between the pages in a way I’ve never imagined before, I discovered new and exciting aspects of myself in each person.It is the type of book that will draw you in and cause you to see your own personal traits that Christ wants to refine.These women stand as a reminder of both our faithfulness and our potential.
John MacArthur brings out the unique feature of the Bible in that it exalts women.It is his hope as you meet these women in Scripture and get to know them on a personal level, they will challenge, motivate you and encourage you with love for God in whom they trusted and served.
Review by Melissa Waters
Creative Hospitality – Book Review
Certified home economist Nancy Van Pelt helps you turn home entertaining into a Christian ministry. Includes menu preparation, food presentation, introductions, relating to guests, reaching out to coworkers and neighbors, and quick fixes for an unprepared home. Nancy Van Pelt helps you reach out to others and minister to their needs through warm hospitality by making entertaining easier than ever before. Whether you’re planning a cozy dinner for four or a big bash for 40, you’ll find all the creative ideas and practical suggestions needed to make your occasion extra-special.
Some Chapters You’ll Enjoy:
-
Hospitality: A Powerful Witness
- Creating a Special Atmosphere
- On Being a Good Guest
- Shortcuts, Quick Fixes
- Setting Pretty
- Center Pieces
- Buffet Entertaining
- Toasts: Reviving a Grand Tradition
- Creative Church Potlucks
Nancy Van Pelt is a best-selling author, certified life educator, and a certified family and consumer science professional. She is the founder of the Compleat Courtship, the Compleat Marriage, and the Compleat Parent seminars and has conducted hundreds of seminars around the world on family relationships and personalized home organization.
Nancy frequently appears on television and radio programs and is a popular speaker at churches and conventions. Her books include: The Compleat Courtship, The Compleat Marriage, The Compleat Parent, How to Develop Your Child’s Character, and How To Communicate With Your Mate. Her 22 books have been translated into more than 20 languages. She and her husband, Harry, have three grown children.
I think this is a great book for those called to the hospitality ministry. Remember part of being a virtuous woman is being able to minister to the stranger through Christ’s hospitality.
Review by Judy Culbert
Beautiful Places, Spiritual Space – Book Review
Today’s fast pace allows little room for time-consuming trips to decorating stores. Or perhaps the lack of funds keeps us from furnishing and redecorating our homes. This is a Bible study to understand how to build and maintain a biblical atmosphere in our homes. Designed to meet the needs of today’s woman, Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces is the ideal companion for women navigating the uncharted territory of life – offering daily, short, inspirational mediations, and creative decorating how-to’s.
“Beautiful Places, Spiritual Places” is a refreshing way of combining self-reflection and interior designing. It is easy to read and provides good and practical insights on how to deal with clutters not just in our homes but most importantly in our hearts.
This book is perfect for everyone who is thinking of starting a new home, planning on renovating it or simply trying to have a new perspective in life. Starting a new home or a new life can really be overwhelming that sometimes you just don’t know when, where and how to start. It makes starting over as easy as ABC in a stress free way.
Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces is the collaborative effort of interior designer Sharon Hanby-Robie & Deb Strubel (Director of Foundation Relations for the Institute of American Values) It is a decorating guidebook designed specifically to help women conquer clutter in their living space, confidently combine patterns in their surroundings, make big changes for relatively little cost, discover their “true color personality”, nurture the spiritual needs of themselves and their loved ones, and gain five minutes of peace for themselves whenever they need it most! Reader friendly, immanently practical, and occasionally inspiring, Beautiful Places, Spiritual Spaces is especially commended to the attention of do-it-yourself, non-specialist, general readers wanting to change the decor and live out their lives in a serene, pleasant, personalized environment.
The words “interior design” take on new meaning in this unique new book. It’s half inspiration, half instruction, and wholly delightful! Gifted authors Sharon Hanby-Robie and Deb Strubel wisely realize that at the heart of every home beats the heart of every person who lives there. Until we understand that our personal interior, our heart, is meant to reflect God’s design, our houses cannot possibly reflect their true purpose. More than a place of beauty, a house should be comforting-a safe retreat from the world outside, a place where we can fellowship with our family, our friends, and our God. This creative compendium contains fifty power-packed readings on fashioning a home that is practical, yet beautiful, and definitely spiritually inclined! Ideas are easy to read, simple to accomplish, and possible to afford (especially for someone who is decorating-challenged like me!) Best of all, coordinated throughout each reading, like a decorator’s color chart, are spiritual overtones that blend function with passion. I love the daily meditations that tie up each reading with the ribbons of Scripture and personal application. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to refurbish her home and her heart. I highly recommend it!
Review by Judy Culbert
