Friday, July 6, 2012

Marriage 911



Marriage 911: How God Saved Our Marriage (and can save yours, too!) by Greg and Julie Alexander is a two fold book. It is the realistic story of a relationship that appeared doomed but by the grace of God was not only salvaged but redeemed as well as a book that many married couples could use to improve their marriage even if it's not in need of emergency help but maybe only some routine maintenance. The Alexanders take turns telling the story of their broken relationship and each chapter ends with questions for couples to ask themselves to improve their own marriage. 

The Alexanders' life changed when they made an appointment with their new parish priest. Upon hearing that they wanted a divorce, he challenged them with three questions: What is God's plan for marriage? What does our Church teach? and What do St. Paul and the Holy Fathers say about marriage? Not only did this lead to the saving of their own marriage but also a life long commitment to helping others through the establishment of The Alexander House - an apostolate dedicated to marriage and family life. The Alexander House offers marriage coaching, workshops and other ways to support a truly Christ-centered marriage.

I read this book with the intent of only learning the story of the Alexanders but came away with the knowledge of ways that any marriage can be improved even if not in dire straits. I see in my own twenty-four years of marriage some of the same mistakes the Alexanders made but thankfully not the one that nearly broke their union. 

I think this book should be a must read for any couple that comes in for counseling and would also provide a great springboard for married fellowship discussion.

I wrote this review of Marriage 911: How God Saved Our Marriage (and Can Save Yours, Too!) for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. Aquinas and More is the largest on-line Catholic bookstore. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

1 comment:

Anabelle Hazard said...

I saw this couple featured on EWTN once. Thanks for posting about this because I'm definitely recommending it to a friend.