Rating: 
Summary: Helped us nip a lot of things in the bud!
Review: Any pre-marital preparation and counseling is a good idea in my book, but this is something special. While we were engaged and living in different cities, my wife and I went through this workbook individually chapter by chapter and discussed our responses over the phone. So many topics came up that we would never have thought to be major issues for us to deal with! The particular strength of this book over some others is the authors' emphasis on families of origin. We each bring so much baggage and so many expectations into the marriage that comes from our families where we grew up! Many books ignore this, but Sloan and Hardin wisely forced us to look hard beyond puppy love and into real-life commitment. I get the feeling the authors have seen their share of wrecked marriages, have traced the problems, and have used that knowledge in the creation this book. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide
Review: If you are thinking about getting married, do this workbook with your fiance. We both loved it and worked at it until we were done with it. It helps you to bring up subjects that you might not otherwise think to bring up, allows you to communicate about touchy subjects and work past them. If someone won't do this workbook with you, I don't think you should marry them. Just my opinion. This was the most valuable tool for us especially since we had a very short engagement.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read & Do for all engaged couples!
Review: If you are thinking about getting married, do this workbook with your fiance. We both loved it and worked at it until we were done with it. It helps you to bring up subjects that you might not otherwise think to bring up, allows you to communicate about touchy subjects and work past them. If someone won't do this workbook with you, I don't think you should marry them. Just my opinion. This was the most valuable tool for us especially since we had a very short engagement.
Rating: 
Summary: Sparks for conversation
Review: My fiance purchased a copy of this book for both of us since we have a long-distance relationship. During our conversations over the phone we would discuss the chapters we designated to read. When he would visit me for the weekend, we would spend time answering the hundreds of questions we never thought to ask. After going through this book, I'm left with a desire to know more about my husband to be. I definitely would recommend this book to any couple considering marraige. But I would also recommend the couple to develop a habit of reading relationship books together. After this book, we read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Even though, I didnt agree with everything written in that book, it is still an important part of our relationship, since he agreed with some issues I never thought he would. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that even reading books that are terribly bad, can help you and your fiance to know what you agree on which can be encouraging. At least you still agree on some of the basic stuff. Overall, this book was an excellent read which sparked much needed conversation.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Excellent Resource for Premarital Preparation
Review: My fiancee and I have found this to be an excellent tool for deepening our understanding of each other as we prepare for marriage. We highly recommend it.Written from a Christian perspective of marriage, it is applicable to anyone who wants their marriage to be a lifetime and life-long commitment. The goal of the book is to help couples learn the "who" and "why" of each other. It does this by promoting communication about each individual's family background as well as what each individual is looking forward to in a marriage. This is an excellent tool. It doesn't "preach" but helps you learn for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: better than professional premarital counseling!
Review: My husband and I have been happpily married for over ten years. We didn't want to make a mistake, so we had professional and pastoral counseling as we were preparing for our marriage. We also went through one chapter a week of this book and found this book to be far more effective than the other types of counseling.
We each completed questions that got us to talking about our perceptions about the different aspects of marriage that had been formed by the way things were in our family of origin. When we uncovered differences, we discussed them and became far more aware of why they were differing opinions. Even better, we came to resolution about how our own marriage would become. This book is a must for every engaged couple!
Rating:
Summary: Smooths Out The Rough Spots Before Marriage
Review: My husband and I read many books together before our marriage last year. This book helped us the most. We were able to discuss potential differences and expectations. This book helped us understand each other, our families, and our ideas about marriage better. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their relationship and prepare for the more difficult parts of marriage.
Rating:
Summary: Great Dialog Starter and Ministry Tool!
Review: My husband and I used this book during our premarital counseling at my church and it was GREAT! It stirred up heated discussions as well as allowed us to clearly see what was ahead for us in marriage. The book alone is great but having a pastor or elder to act as a third party to the activities in the book really made the
experience more meaningful! The ulimate goal in our marriage is for God to be glorified, and this book exposes the areas in your life you have yet to submit to the Lord as well as those you need to submit further.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide
Review: My pastor gave me a copy of this book and 1000 Questions for Couples and both were extremely helpful in preparing for our marriage. If we had not gone through both we would have had some very serious surprises and problems early on in our marriage. Going through this material I can see why most couples divorce in the first 5 years -- it is because they either werent properly prepared or didnt really know each other. These two books help with both.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: My wife and I found this book very valuable. However, the book is mainly directed towards non cross cultural marriages. So If you are a mixed couple like us, Sweden & Portugal, do please remeber to check out som books about cross-cultural communication. God Bless you with your marriage.
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