Beyond Ordinary

You think you know, but you really don’t. Most marriages are struggling, while a few are ordinary. But this couple, who co-authored Beyond Ordinary, strive to make marriage what it is meant to be. 

One of the major challenges of marriages, takes place before a couple is even married. The forethought is that the wedding ceremony is the “moment” they have each been waiting for. When all along, the moments that each have been waiting for, culminate in a life-long marriage covenant. 

Too many couples make the grave mistake of investing (time, energy, efforts, finances, thoughts, plans, dreams, hopes) into a ceremony that takes months to plan, but is over in the blink of an eye. The afterthought is that now that the ceremony is over, “what do we do now?” This is generally the point where marriages do not turn the corner.

Couples need to invest in the marriage, the life after the ceremony. This is the extraordinary part of life. Couples desire to have an extraordinary ceremony and an ordinary marriage. We have it terribly backwards. 

Thankfully, Justin & Trisha Davis, have pulled back the curtain into their lives and their marriage and have opened up their scars, bruises, struggles, defeats, victories, and celebrations to readers who may be facing the ordinary. 

Each chapter is filled with honesty, frustration, brokenness, and joy. As the reader, you will see first hand, from a couple who doubted, cheated and even separated but did seek counseling and who didn’t give up. 

It is refreshing to see that others are in the same boat as many, yet, they avoided ultimately crashing the boat, by the grace of God and honesty of each other. 

The book is written in a journal format with numerous entries revealed from each spouse. Some of the journal entries emphasize scripture translations such as THE MESSAGE. This is where the book’s weakness lies. Along with that is a reference from Trisha about a small group that she was a part of, that went through Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. She stated that she took the author’s words as direct words from God’s mouth to her heart. We must remember as devotional readers, that a devotional is a equivalent to a teaspoon of medicine. It can stir us up to be appreciative of scripture and help guide us into the scriptures, but they cannot replace the need for scriptures in our lives. Only 1 book is the direct voice of God and that is the bible and in that, The Message does not suffice, either. 

This book is a great resource for pre-marital & marital counseling and offers hope in the dark days of marriage, because all marriages face dark days. 

Note: I received a copy of this book from the Tyndale House Bloggers Review Program in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive view. The author’s website is listed below, along with the publisher’s site. 

 

Please check out the following links for more information regarding this title & the ministry of Justin & Trisha Davis. 

http://www.beyondordinarybook.com/ – Detailed information regarding the title. 

http://vimeo.com/52880543 – The trailer to preview Beyond Ordinary. 

http://refineus.org/ – The ministry of Justin & Trisha Davis

http://www.tyndale.com – The publisher of Beyond Ordinary