At this church I attend there are a number of couples who celebrate wedding anniversaries on Facebook for unions that have been around longer than me–sometimes these marriages are older than me by a couple of decades.
Of course, these are all loving, God-honoring marriages. But, it kind of makes you think. Sixty years is a long time to spend with someone you were ill-advised to marry.
Which, I think, is why Rebecca VanDoodewaard wrote Your Future ‘Other Half’: It Matters Whom You Marry (Christian Focus Publications, 2014).
(Note: Originally written in 2014.)
The Importance of Finding a Godly Husband
I really like what Rebecca VanDoodewaard writes on page 17:
“Whom you marry matters not only because it will affect your health, make you sad or happy, create fear or security, but also because it will hinder or enable you to live a life of Christian service.”
Amen to that. Just, amen.
There is no way I could have written Bible Road Trip™ if my husband wasn’t a strong, God-fearing man who shares my vision of biblical literacy. It wouldn’t happen. It’s not just that he lets me write the curriculum. No, he helps me remember why I stay up to all hours of the night. He reminds me there are precious people waiting for the next week of study. It’s because my husband is a wonderful, generous, kind man that I am able to homeschool my nieces alongside our children. I am a selfish, small person and he reminds me to serve God with all I have.
He even endures whatever lands on the table on those nights I burn dinner because I’m making a graphic for a book review. I’m not saying that happened tonight, but it may have. My son also may have mentioned he’s going to marry someone who can boil water. Actually, that probably happened.
But you know already know that it matters whom you marry. Does your daughter?
Sometimes it really helps to have someone else make a Scriptural, well-written argument on your behalf. This book is that argument.
Rebecca VanDoodewaard offers a biblical look at the ways a husband will affect his wife, and then she flips that on its head to examine the ways a wife will affect her husband. I like the fact that she wrote this book directly to the unmarried young woman, using the pronoun “you” to communicate with the reader. Choosing a spouse is a very personal choice, and this is a very personal book. While s*x is addressed in the book, there’s nothing graphic.
I think Your Future ‘Other Half’ (with 112 pages of primary text) would be perfect for middle school and high school girls.
There are eight chapters in Your Future ‘Other Half’:
- How to use this book
- Marriage will impact you spiritually
- Marriage will impact you emotionally
- Marriage will impact you mentally
- Marriage will impact you physically
- Marriage will impact you relationally
- What about love?
- What about you?
There is also an introduction, a conclusion, an appendix and study questions.
Mrs. VanDoodewaard discusses each topic in a common sense manner with biblical references, anecdotes, and liberal quotes from Christians throughout history. There are 26 books listed in the bibliography–this is not a book based on personal opinion alone, which is something I’ve long admired about Rebecca VanDoodewaard’s work.
I highly recommend Your Future ‘Other Half’ to Christian families with girls. Because whom you marry does matter. It matters a lot.
Purchase Your Future ‘Other Half’: It Matters Whom You Marry
I’d like to thank Christian Focus Publications for providing me with a copy of Your Future ‘Other Half’: It Matters Whom You Marry in return for my honest review.
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Martin Luther and the Reformation
Teach your teens about Martin Luther and the Reformation in an exciting, new way with When Lightning Struck!: The Story of Martin Luther!
As Luther’s understanding of the spiritual corruption within the Church grew, and he despaired of true salvation, Luther (now a scholar and priest) sought the Bible for answers. Following his discovery of the true gospel in Scripture, Luther began to preach spiritual freedom to his congregation, and to teach biblical (rather than philosophical) theology at the University of Wittenberg.
It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther penned his Ninety-Five Theses in Latin in response to the abusive indulgence sales practices of the monk Johann Tetzel in a nearby town. Luther nailed the Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, the scholarly bulletin board of his day, and mailed a copy to the Archbishop of Mainz. Luther hoped to start a scholarly debate about the practice of selling salvation through plenary indulgences. The response he received was greater–and more dangerous–than he imagined it would be.
Luther’s story is exciting. There are death defying moments, epic spiritual battles, narrow escapes, a kidnapping, revolution, and war. As the “Father of the Reformation”, Luther is a vital figure in Church history. His sacrifice and willingness to wage battle against the spiritual, religious, and political powers of his medieval world allowed Christians throughout time to embrace the truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as explained by Scripture alone once again. May all glory be to God alone!
Read portions of the first eight chapters of When Lightning Struck!:
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