Vertical Marriage - The One Secret That Will Change Your Marriage was a very good book. Actually it was a great book! Dave and Ann Wilson are very honest about their struggles in their marriage and how it nearly fell apart. There were times in the book where I thought "Oh no she didn't!" Or " He's such a jerk and he's a pastor?"
What does "vertical marriage" mean? Both husband and wife having a relationship with Jesus and making Him a part of your marriage.
The book is divided into four parts:
Part One- Going Vertical- Here Dave and Ann take turns sharing some of the issues they faced as they learned to put their focus on Jesus even though they were born again Christians.
Part Two- Conflict and Communication - This sections covers dealing with anger and how to resolve it, learning to listen,forgiveness and more.
Part Three -Intimacy - Here they talk about physical intimacy in marriage. I won't say more.
Part Four-- Living Vertical- In this last section Dave shares surrendering our marriages to the Lord. It's not a suggestion. Christ needs to be in our marriages.
The back of the book has discussion questions for couples and some of them may be hard to discuss with each other like: Chapter 1- "Six Words That Changed Everything"
In your marriage, when have you been hit with a "brick"- a challenge, reaction, or situation you never saw coming? Dave shares that Ann tells him on their tenth anniversary, after an awesome date he planned, that she no longer has feelings for him. (Ouch!)
Another question from chapter 10 - "All I Hear is Boo" Ann shares about the time she and Dave spoke at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. She says Dave spoke about things he did that caused him to hear Boo! from Ann."Why can't we have devotional like other families?" Boo! "You didn't change the oil like I asked" Boo!
So for the wives, the question is ask your husband if he feels like you cheer for him. Ask him to explain his answer. (I'm going to write a future post about being our husband's biggest cheerleader)
This book I though was going to be an easy read but it was hard. I was seeing issues in my own marriage that my husband and I need to work on.
I really like this book and recommend it even if you aren't struggling in your marriage.
Just a quick note about Dave and Ann Wilson. They have been featured speakers at Family Life's Weekend to Remember marriage conferences.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher (Zondervan) in exchange for my honest review.
