Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Back Cover Review: CLOSER: Devotions To Draw Couples Together by Jim & Cathy Burns

My husband and I are just not couples devotional people. I guess we just haven't found what works for us in this area yet. Trust me, it's not through any fault of the author. Since we were married we've had several devotionals sitting on our shelves (written by acknowledged experts): Night Light: A Devotional For Couples by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson and Meditations On Proverbs For Couples by Les & Leslie Parrott. I thought for sure a brave, fresh devotional without dust on the top would inspire us...along with a fresh tactic...

Jim & Cathy Burns are definitely gifted writers with a heart for couples. It is in fact, an excellent devotional and more. With topics such as, The Power of Forgiveness, A Nonnegotiable Date Night, The Purity Code, Thank Therapy, Keep On Treasuring, Your Body and Your Marriage; Closer to God, Closer to Each Other, A Life of Significant Conversations and Learning to Apologize...to highlight a few. Each devotional introduces the subject, includes "faith conversations" (with discussion ideas) and "A Step Closer" (an area with a specific action step for each of you to take).

Maybe what our devotional life needs is accountability outside of our relationship? Maybe a Sunday School class, Small Group format or Marriage Seminar with this book as the guide. It would definitely work great in one of those formats! I don't know, when I find the key I'll get back to you...or if you have discovered what works for you and your spouse - please share it, I'd like to know!

Either that, or we're weird and would be inspired by something else in a devotional..."scripts" that resonate with conversations we know we've had...or something more passionate and heart-spoken rather than the "teaching" approach that almost all devotionals follow.

If couples' devotionals work for you though, I definitely recommend this one! (We've also found Jim Burn's Pure Foundations series for kids Very Helpful!)

This book was provided for review by Bethany House Publishers.

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