Customer Reviews

Moments With You: Daily Connections for Couples

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this devotional, "Moments With You: Daily Connections For Couples", for two reasons. (1) This devotional is written for couples by a successful married couple, Dennis and Barbara Rainey. (2) My wife and I enjoyed one of their previous 365-day devotionals called "Moments Together for Couples".

After the first 27 days of this year I do have to say my wife and I are enjoying another great devotional by this couple.

The format is great, a page of each day of the year.

The devotional starts off with one scripture verse and then goes right into the body of the devotional, or story.

Following is the section labeled "Discuss" with thought provoking questions pertaining to the story just read. This is meant to start a meaningful conversation between you and your spouse hopefully bonding you two together both emotionally and spiritually. It allows one another to see how each other thinks and gives an opportunity to hear the things on each other's heart.

The devotional ends with "Pray". A thought provoking prayer statement that couples can use and pray together in their prayer life together.

The only reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is the fact there is no scripture reading. Yes, there is a key verse that begins each devotion but there should have been a scripture reading of God's Word. That's just my opinion.

I still reccommend this book to every couple out there. If you are ready to face some truth in your daily lives as a married couple, read this book. This devotional will bring you and your spouse together in many different ways. The lessons in this devotional will keep you two talking about issues you would just otherwise gloss over or sweep under the rug. This book will challenges you to keep growing closer to God and each other.

While my husband and I like the format of this devotional, it is definitely NOT for newlyweds, or any couple without children. A good majority of the daily entries are focused on parenting.

Two other notes: after using a devotional Bible last year, I missed having more scripture involved. This is a one-verse wonder format. Secondly, the authoring couple are clearly very conservative; Christians with unsaved friends, etc., are likely to be turned off by certain passages.

Dennis and Barbara Rainey know what they are doing. With this 365 day devotional, couples get the opportunity to spend QUALITY time together by talking about what is meaningful: their relationship. The conversation is started as the Rainey's expound on a Scripture verse. Then they give the couple some discussion questions. My wife and I have only done two devotionals so far, and I've learned new things about her I did not know before. This devotional will be very enriching to a marriage. Couples also have the liberty to meet for however long they want (15 min - 1 hr). If married couples use this devotional my prediction is that the divorce rate would decrease dramatically.

(¤Thank you for reading this review and your votes - either way!¤)
INTRO:
As many of the other reviewers have stated, this is a very useful and easy daily devotional to use that inspires and stimulates any couple (especially the ones with children) to discuss and pray about important family life issues.

AUTHORS:
Dennis and Barbara Rainey are the founders of [...] christian ministry and this is another great resource that this ministry provides. [...] is mostly known from its radio programs (Dennys Rainey) and its Weekend-To-Remember seminars.

CONTENT:
Each calendar date has one page where the devotional text starts with the title, Bible verse quote, Dennis or Barbara's thoughts in a paragraph format. At the bottom of the page is a Discuss and Pray area (where in a sentence the couple are encouraged to discuss an important issue and to pray) that are related to the title and topic covered.

While each day there is a Scripture verse, this is not a heavy-duty theological devotional book. There are no suggested Bible reading texts for each day or elaborate biblical discussions. The devotional texts written by Dennis and Barbara rather focus mostly on the day-to-day family life, issues, and struggles, and on a few occasions the focus is on spiritual issues or theological concepts. Unfortunatelly, sometimes the devotional text is not even closely related to the Bible text. Point in case - July 28 is called "I was just thinking" and the key verse is Psalm 63:2 "I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory" but the devotional text primarily focuses on communication between the two spouses and less on meditation on God's power and glory and His sanctuary.

The title could not be more appropiate, but it would have helped to indicate that this devotional discusses a lot of parenting issues and relevant for couples that are already parents (not recommended for childless couples or newly-married).

CONCLUSION:
My wife and I enjoy the light-hearted but thought-for-food nature of the daily devotionals, and also discussing about parenting (even though we do not have children yet). This devotional is excellent for starting conversations, covering a lot of parenting ground, encourages communication about real marriage issues and fosters good communication and a prayerful life for any believing couple.

For more theological and spiritual devotionals I would recommend:
1) Portals of Prayer (from Concordia Publishing House, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod association)
2) Our Daily Bread (from RBC Ministries, Baptist and Non-Denominational theology)
3) My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (enjoyed by a variety of Christians)
4) A Guide to Prayer for All Gods People by Rueben P. Job (Methodist source, enjoyed by variety of Christians)
# 5) "Life Together - The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

(¤Thank you for reading this review and your votes - either way!¤)

With the stress and pressure of daily life, it's easy for couples to get too busy to take time to connect. Marriages deteriorate whenever spouses become disconnected from each other. That's why it's important for couples to make time to connect emotionally, physically and spiritually. In their latest book, Dennis and Barbara Rainey provide a useful resource in the form of the year-long devotional MOMENTS WITH YOU.

Many of the entries are drawn from the Raineys' previous books, including PRESSURE PROOF YOUR MARRIAGE, GROWING A SPIRITUALLY STRONG FAMILY, STAYING CLOSE and ONE HOME AT A TIME. Long-time fans of the authors will recognize some of the material but also be introduced to fresh writing.

MOMENTS WITH YOU is designed to provide both newlyweds and oldlyweds nourishment for their relationship. Each daily reading begins with a verse and a short one-page entry. The readings close with a discussion point and prayer. The authors are convinced that if couples pray together on a daily basis, they could decrease the chance of divorce by 99.9 percent. Because of the brevity of the entries, the material is accessible to the busiest of couples.

The book focuses on a variety of topics, including marriage, communication, raising children and intimacy. Daily readings are filled with practical insights and advice. While a significant number of entries are tied to parenting, couples who are not parents will still benefit from the book. In a portion called "On-the-job Training", the Raineys tell the story of a buffet restaurant that offered a free Valentine's Day lunch to any couple married more than 50 years. At the event, a lot of great marriage advice was given out, including:

- When you go to bed, always kiss your spouse good-night.
- Look at things in different ways and concentrate on the good in your marriage.
- When you don't say anything, you don't have to take anything back.

One entry is a reminder that Valentine's Day should be celebrated year round. The Raineys write: "Valentine's Day should function as a small reminder of the kind of romance we should be cultivating 365 days a year." Such simple but marriage-transforming advice can be found throughout the readings. Couples are challenged to examine their responses, behaviors and attitudes and choose love and forgiveness over anger and unforgiveness.

Throughout the book, the authors draw on a number of stories and encounters with well-known names, including Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ; Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A (tm); and financial advisor Larry Burkett.

The strength of this devotional lies in its easy-to-read style and the few moments it will take each day for husbands and wives to keep up with the readings. Overall, MOMENTS WITH YOU is a great resource for couples who want to strengthen their marriages and spend daily time together connecting with each other and God.

--- Reviewed by Margaret Oines

We bought the original "Moments Together for Couples" and after reading it several times blessed a family member with it. We have been looking for a devotional ever since and recently purchased this book. So far it has been a blessing and lived up to it's predecessor.

My wife and I made a commitment this past January to do nightly devotionals together whenever possible. We started with a few devotional books we had laying around the house. I've been in the ministry for over 10 years, and have taught a young couples Sunday School class for nearly half of that. So, finding a random devotional book was no problem. What I quickly realized is that many (if not most) of the devotional books out there that are specifically targeted at couples are at best shallow, and at worst anecdotal, cliche, humanistic, and literally devoid of Christ-centric thought.

I won't write too much about what turned me off about most of the other devotional books I tried. Suffice it to say that most of them are "books about marriage" with a little Christ mixed in. They have the cart in front of the proverbial horse. What C.S. Lewis calls, "Christianity and...".

This devotional doesn't have that vibe, which was so refreshing. It's approach is more like, "Here, let's set your marriage over here on the side for a second, and let's just focus on Christ and what it means to follow and glorify Him." And, of course, while your busy focusing on Christ, your marriage is over in the corner miraculously fixing itself.

In other words, if you're looking for a book that will give you some good marriage advice and will give you some good biblical marriage principles but won't bother you with the pesky concept of absolute surrender to Christ, you might want to skip this one.

This devotional has been a great way for my wife and I to get connected and keep connected. Easy to use and addresses real concerns/problems with practical and encouraging steps. It has helped us pray and work together on things that can be better in our marriage.

I was looking for some material that I can use with my wife daily to focus on God. This book provides daily reading material that is not too long or too short. Each day it provides something different for us to discuss and reflect.

Bought this for a newlywed couple. The bride stated it was more for couples who had been married for some time and had children.