The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective

by Martha Peace
Available from Amazon
****

I was really blessed through this book. It was an encouragement to me in my role, attitudes, and responses as a wife, completer, helper and companion of my husband. Martha Peace definitely brings a “Biblical Perspective” as her subtitle indicates, and her systematic line of thought was very helpful. The charts and lists with Scriptures were especially appreciated. This would be a great book for wives from brides to grandmothers.

Love Notes On His Pillow

And Other Everyday Ways to Keep Your Love Alive
by Linda Gilden
Available from Amazon
*****

What is a love note? Sometimes it’s just a sweet little note that says “I love you, Sweetheart”, but it could be quite different. Linda Gilden describes lots of other ways to say “I love you” on paper and by other means. She also explores many other places to leave a love than a pillow. There are many stories in each chapter of couples who communicated a message of love in various tender and meaningful ways.

Although the author is a Christian, this is not a book about Christianity or the Christian marriage; it rather deals with a fun and practical side of marriage. There is a chapter on using Scripture in love notes, which I consider very helpful. A few verses are sprinkled through the pages, but even so, I believe any couple, Christian or not, would enjoy this book.

This is a book not to read through in one sitting, but rather to read a little, mark with a little flag, and try a suggestion before reading on. I enjoyed this book very much, and it has helped to enrich our marriage by giving both of us new ideas of expressing thoughtfulness and love. I recommend it to every couple, whether newlyweds or grandparents!

Me? Obey Him?

by Elizabeth Rice Handford
Available from John R. Rice and Amazon
*****

This is a discussion of the obedience of the Christian wife. The first chapter explores the reasons God commanded it, and then the book goes on to cover the Scriptures that direct wives to submit, and what they mean. Biblical examples are given, and questions about rights and tyrannical authority are answered. Basically, the author shows that God expects the wife to always obey her husband. She understands that sometimes husbands request or require things contrary to the Word of God, and in that case, disobedience is necessary. However, she says that she has never seen a husband being abusive or insisting that the wife sin when the wife has been in submission with a sweet spirit. Just because she has never seen it, of course, doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur, but she says that usually the spirit of a truly submissive wife will provoke tenderness in her husband. After all, Handford’s audience is not primarily those in arranged marriages, but those who entered marriage voluntarily, as did their husbands. She shows from Biblical directives and examples that no matter the husband’s character, we are to respect and submit to him. If it is not his virtues (as most are sinners), we are at least to honor his position as husband and head of the home. But then on the other hand, this should not be too hard, as most of us at least entered marriage with love for our husbands.

My mother gave me this book a few months before I was married, and I thought it was very helpful. I already wanted to bless and honor my husband, but this book reinforced the Scriptures, and I think it was good for me to remember to keep the right attitude toward the Lord and my husband. I would definitely recommend the book to engaged women, new wives, or wives unsure of their position, or wives who simply want to review what God says about submission to their husbands.

A Woman's High Calling

A Woman's High Calling: 10 Essentials for Godly Living by Elizabeth George
*****
This book is based on what Elizabeth George calls "10 essentials for Godly living" taken from the list of things the older women are to teach the younger women in Titus 2. She reminds us that Titus 2 tells us we are to be doing things - if we are older women, we are to be practicing these things and teaching them to younger women. If we are younger women, we are to be learning and practicing these things. She points out that we will always be in both categories. There will always be older women to learn from, and there will always be younger women we can help and teach. Two chapters are devoted to each "essential." The first is about the what and why, and also the who and where. What is this goodness, for example, that we are called to? Why are we called to this? To whom should we show goodness? The second chapter is the application of the first - the how. Mrs. George is full of suggestions and lists and Scripture verses to help implement each "essential." The book is really an older woman's effort to teach younger women the things listed in Titus 2, which is exactly what is commanded inthe passage!

Flight into Spring

Flight into Spring (Sally (Bethlehem Books)) by Bianca Bradbury
****
Sally Day Hammond was a merry and spirited Southern girl who won the heart of a hardworking and reserved Federal soldier from Connecticut. The book tells of the life after their marriage, with his parents on their farm. Sally expected that everyone naturally thought and behaved the in the manner to which she was accustomed, and found it difficult to adjust to New Englanders and the life in Connecticut. She learns to give up things and learns how to love. This book made me cry in places, because I can identify with Sally, and learning to live with someone with a different personality, who hasn't grown up with the same customs. For example, the first morning in Connecticut, Sally was awakened much earlier that she was used to, and when she went to help set the table for breakfast was told, "We don't use napkins with breakfast here." Sally went on to explain to her husband's parents that she couldn't eat their kind of hearty breakfast, and would just have toast and tea. Her in-laws considered tea a special treat only to be served when the minister visited.

The book chronicles struggles, friendships, fights, and near the end, close to a town-wide scandal, all resulting from the turbulence of different lives and lifestyles brought together.

I was disappointed that the book didn't have more of a Christian perspective, with Sally in one place saying that she thought that hell was a real place, but that she thought that "most of the stories were made up to scare little children."

Younger children may think this book is boring, but older ones may find the telling descriptions interesting, and new wives may be able to identify with some of the adjustments.