Year of the Wife – For Men Only – Journey Begins

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formenonly_bookOne of my “goals” or “resolutions” for the coming year is to spend more time with my family and invest heavily in my wife, like I’ve never done before.

That’s why I’m calling 2009 “The Year of the Wife”.

Teehee.

Part of doing that is beginning to read all those books that have collected dust on my shelf that were given to me for the purpose of encouraging, counseling, and helping me with my marriage.

So will you join me in this journey as I try to be a better husband and father?

Ok?  Sweet!

For Men Only by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn is one of those books, and I picked it up on the way out to Dallas.

Now, I’m the LAST person who would ever willingly pick up a “self-help” book… *ugh*… It’s just not my style.

But this one was given to me by a person I trust and love… so I took the first step, and it was a big step.

I was laughing aloud during the flight and scared people.  This book is hilariously entertaining… only because some of it feels like it’s talking directly to me.

What I’m really digging is all the statistical studies they did to provide the support behind some of their generalizations about women.  I also like how they do take a biblical perspective on things.

It also mentions that it’s not a comprehensive marriage book, it doesn’t have fair and equal treament (for a man and a man’s perspective… go read For Women Only if your a woman), but it does provide good insight for women if they read it… and finally, it does mention that there are exceptions to every rule and that it will be “politically incorrect”.

Awesome.  My type of book.

So, if you will join me, I’m going to start blogging the next few days (or more) about my thoughts and findings… I would love for many of you to chime in and tell me what you think… there’s some really interesting stuff here.

Here’s to a better marriage… it’s so so so worth it.

23 thoughts on “Year of the Wife – For Men Only – Journey Begins”

  1. Awesome. As seen in my comments on this or the CC blog, this is one of my goals as well. Keep us posted on the books you read. I will try get this one and read along with you.

    Bring on your thoughts.

  2. Looking forward to hearing your insights. I have the same book on the shelf needing to be read. Guess I should pick it up sometime soon, eh?

    Peace.

  3. I read the for Women Only before the For Men Only came out. My wife wanted me to read the For Women Only to see how accurate I thought the book was. I think that the For Women Only nailed men (or at least me). So I have to trust the For Men Only is about as good. I have read it twice because I need reminding. I am fairly dense in remembering how to properly care for my wife. It has been about a year so it is probably time to read it again. Thanks for the reminder.

  5. I'm reading about 4 different books right now, but will enjoy reading how it's working for you and head on over to Amazon after seeing how it goes….

  6. That is the best book I've ever read for guys about marriage. I think you've inspired me to pick it back up and look through it again.

  7. John,
    I started this book a couple of years ago, and it has done wonders for my relationship (which has now become a marriage). After we got married, Jenn and I began reading the men and women’s versions of the books together and talking through the chapters, hours upon hours of some of the most challenging conversation that she and I have ever had came from this nightly activity.

    I’ll be here for the ride as we go through these books. Maybe something like this would be good for something of a virtual Men’s group, a relational accountability and study group?

  8. I'm not a big self-helper either. I've been married 15 yrs(nothing compared to a couple at church who celebrated 63 yrs!)& I'm very fortunate to be close friends with my wife.Since my wife is a strong Type A I have to make sure my ducks are in a row.We work on release & confront.We try to do things to free each other up.And we watch other couples and ask older folks a lot of questions.We've had some great relationships with seniors in the body who have been a huge source of encouragement.If you don't have this …then read that book, make it a priority!

  9. Step 1 to a better marriage should include never using "Teehee" and speaking with more bass in your voice!

    Of course, I could be wrong. I'm getting married in February so I'll test that theory myself. ;)

  10. my hubs and i read these and LOVED them. we even traded and read each others… but it wasn't as effective as the ones written just for us. i'm glad you're digging in.

  11. I, too, have vowed to make 2009 the Year Of The Wife.

    My prayer is that God uses me through the year to become a better father and a much better husband.