From Publishers Weekly
Well known to Christian readers and appointed as "marriage ambassadors" by the governor of Oklahoma to help reduce the state's divorce rate, the Parrotts are strong proponents of marriage even when it's less than perfect. Citing research on the benefits of marriage for health, wealth and emotional satisfaction, they aim to help readers deal with their problems and disappointments and fully expect readers' serious participation in exercises and self-quizzes that are sold in separate workbooks for men and women (a departure from the usual format for trade self-help books). Whether marital problems arise from unfulfilled expectations, unhealthy choices or unpredictable circumstances, the Parrotts (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts; Becoming Soul Mates) believe that the ability to adjust to "bad things" can strengthen and mature a relationship. Most fresh is their discussion of the needs of couples who may be out of sync spiritually, who don't understand each other's spiritual language or style of worship. Numerous case studies which illustrate how to handle issues from irritating habits and boredom to "bombshells" such as addiction, infidelity and infertility offer only surface explanations of each couple's predicaments, along with pithy advice. While many of the suggestions here may be useful (e.g., on how to create boundaries and honor distinctions between partners), many are familiar (e.g., reserve time for sex and intimacy; refuse to be a victim). (Mar.) Forecast: This slight manual will find a ready market among the Parrots' Christian following, though its Christian sensibility may keep it from breaking out to a larger readership.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Back Cover
No matter how good your marriage is, it’s not invulnerable. Bad things happen to the best of marriages. The question isn’t whether you’ll face struggles as a couple, but how you’ll handle them when they come. When the going gets tough, what does it take to preserve--and in the long run, even strengthen--your union?
Relationship experts and award-winning authors Les and Leslie Parrott believe the same forces that can destroy a marriage can become the catalyst for new relational depth and richness--provided you make wise choices. You can even survive any of the four most heartbreaking crises a marriage can endure: infidelity, addiction, infertility, and loss. The stories and insights of couples who have made it through the worst will encourage you that your marriage is worth fighting for, not just because quitting is so devastating but because the rewards of sticking it out are so great.
The Parrotts explain why every marriage starts out good but inevitably bumps into bad things. Then, drawing on their wealth of professional and personal experience as a married couple, they discuss:
Three Good Things That Turn Bad for Some Couples
One Bad Thing Every Marriage Can Make Better
Six Bad Things That Sneak Up on Good Marriages
Four Bad Things That Jolt Good Marriages to Their Core
How Good Marriages Battle Bad Things
In the next-to-last chapter, the Parrotts take you inside the very soul of your marriage--why it so often aches and how a vital connection with God can join your hearts together in ways you’ve never imagined.
Designed for use with its accompanying, individual workbooks for husbands and wives, When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages could be a life saver for your relationship. It can make the difference between a marriage that founders on the shoals of circumstance and one that grows through hardship to release undreamed-of goodness and blessing in your lives.
