Sunday, May 9, 2010

Beloved and Blessed



Blessed and Beloved: Biblical Wisdom for Family Life was promoted as the third in a series of Bible studies based on Proverbs 31 but it's not a traditional Bible study. The chapters do not start out with specific reading assignments from Proverbs 31 and there are no questions to answer within nor at the ends of the chapters. The questions for study are tucked in at the end of the book in Appendix B - there are six sets of questions (58 in all) for a 200+ page study.
That being said, while it's not what I expected, I enjoyed the book. Kimberly Hahn is a very accessible writer that teaches Catholic truths in a non-threatening manner. The book is broken down into six sections each related to a verse from Proverbs 31 (vs 11, 28, 24, 23 and two sections on vs 26). For instance the first part is based on Proverbs 31:11 "the heart of her husband trusts in her." Kimberly spends two chapters focusing on the topics of intimacy with both spouse and God as well as challenges to intimacy. In this latter chapter, Kimberly discusses spiritual, physical, interpersonal, psychological challenges related to intimacy in marriage but one doesn't need  an advanced degree in order to understand her explanations; she talks to the regular mom in the church pew.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Beloved and Blessed.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know about Scott and Kimberly Hahn, but I haven't read any of their books. But as an unmarried man, I admit I probably wouldn't be interested in this particular one, though it sounds like a good read. What else has she written?

Evan

Renee said...

Her books tend to focus on marriage and homeschooling but she was also co-writer of Rome Sweet Home (http://www.amazon.com/Rome-Sweet-Home-Journey-Catholicism/dp/0898704782/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274044816&sr=8-6)

Sweetums5 said...

+JMJ

Thanks for the review. I have heard Kimberly speak on 2 occasions, once in a homeschooling conference and another in a talk on marriage with her husband, and she was words were very insightful. I will look into this book.