Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage: Because a Great Relationship Doesn't Happen by Accident

by Sheila Wray Gregoire

Overview

Is what you believe about marriage getting in the way of a GREAT relationship?


When you’ve put into practice all the usual advice, but your marriage still falls short of the intimacy and joy you want, what then? Are patience and perseverance your only hope for a better relationship?
Author and speaker Sheila Wray Gregoire says, “Absolutely not!” The solution to a happier relationship is not found in being a more patient, more perfect wife, but in taking responsibility for what you can do—and especially for how you think about your marriage. She challenges you to replace pat Christian answers with nine biblical truths that will radically shift your perspective on your husband, your relationship, and your role in God’s design for marriage, including…
·       My Husband Can’t Make Me Mad
·       Being One Is More Important Than Being Right
·       Having Sex Is Not the Same as Making Love
With humor and honesty, Sheila invites you to believe that God wants to bring oneness and intimacy to your marriage—and challenges you to partner with Him in that process by changing the way you think.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781601427090
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/18/2015
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	686,348
File size:	598 KB

About the Author

SHEILA WRAY GREGOIRE is the author of numerous books, including The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex and To Love, Honor and Vacuum. Her refreshing approach to difficult relationship topics has made her a popular speaker across North America and earned her an online following in the hundreds of thousands. She and her husband, Keith, both avid birdwatchers, are now empty nesters. They're hitting the road in an RV, pulling over for speaking engagements, free wifi, and rare hawks.

Table of Contents

We Do What We Think! 1

Thought #1 My Husband Is My Neighbor 9

Thought #2 My Husband Can't Make Me Mad 31

Thought #3 My Husband Was Not Put on This Earth to Make Me Happy 53

Thought #4 I Can't Mold My Husband into My Image 73

Thought #5 I'm Not in Competition with My Husband 95

Thought #6 I'm Called to Be a Peacemaker, Not a Peacekeeper 117

Thought #7 Being One Is More important Than Being Right 141

Thought #8 Having Sex Is Not the Same as Making Love 165

Thought #9 Well Drift Apart 189

Acknowledgments 209

Discussion Questions 213

Appendix 217

Notes 221

Editorial Reviews

In my research with happy marriages, I’ve found that happy wives have one thing in common: they know that happiness doesn’t just happen. Sheila gives great ideas that challenge our conventional thinking about what goes into a happy marriage—and she nails it! Here’s to a new generation of happy wives.”
—Fawn Weaver, New York Times best-selling author of Happy Wives Club

“What a wonderful book! Sheila has such a delightful writing style that you forget you’re learning so much. The teaching points are inspiring, and the action steps truly can be marriage-transforming. Many readers will particularly appreciate Sheila’s delightful way of challenging conventional wisdom as she offers freshly applied biblical wisdom. One of the best things you could do for your spouse, your children, and your own happiness and contentment in the coming year is to read and apply Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage.”
—Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage and A Lifelong Love

“The truths in Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage hold the power to revolutionize relationships. Sheila Wray Gregoire gives it to us straight: we can be happy, we can have the good marriage that God designed. But first we need to change our thought life. As Sheila challenges pat answers and common misconceptions about what makes a marriage work, she offers an alternate, hope-filled path. Her real-life examples and biblically rooted insights will free you to approach your marriage with a transformed attitude and renewed energy.”
—Shannon Ethridge, relationship coach, speaker, and author of the bestseller Every Woman’s Battle

“In this lively and engaging book, Sheila doesn’t just explode cultural myths about marriage and relationship and replace them with biblical truth; she also provides ultrapractical tasks for wives to apply every bit of their new knowledge. I love the emphasis on working on yourself first, rather than trying to change your spouse. Way to go, Sheila!”
—Shaunti Feldhahn, social researcher and best-selling author of For Women Only
“We’ve all heard the adage, ‘It takes two to make a marriage work.’ And it’s true. But with Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage, Sheila Wray Gregoire gives women powerful tools to make a huge difference in their marriages all on their own. Instead of focusing on what our husbands should do, Sheila helps us focus on what we as wives actually can do. Actionable, empowering, and freeing. A must read for every woman who wonders if her marriage could be better.”
—Kathi Lipp, author of The Husband Project and Clutter Free

“Although an honest personal assessment can be painful at times in marriage, it is worth it. Sheila takes us on a journey of discovering how our personal thoughts may be interfering with our marriage and gives us practical steps on how to make the lasting change we long for and desperately need!”
—Ruth Schwenk, speaker, author, and creator of TheBetterMom.com

“‘For as [she] thinks in [her] heart, so is [she]’ (Proverbs 23:7, nkjv). Sheila wisely helps women think healthy thoughts so they can create a healthier marriage. Think honest, loving, practical, biblical, relevant—those are the kind of wise thoughts Sheila will help you think so you can discover the power to build a love to look forward to living.”
—Pam Farrel, best-selling author of forty books, including Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti and Red Hot Monogamy

“In Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage, Sheila Wray Gregoire challenges spouses to take the focus off of what their marriage partner is doing ‘wrong’ and, instead, change their own thought patterns to see their spouse in a whole new light. What I love most about Sheila is that she writes from experience, not just theory. She is transparent about how her own faulty thinking created struggles early in her marriage, and she celebrates how God redeemed her situation to create the beautiful relationship she now enjoys with her husband. Through this, readers will be encouraged that a transformed marriage relationship just may start in changing their own way of thinking.”
—Erin Odom, creator of TheHumbledHomemaker.com and author of Your Retreat: A Guide to Giving Yourself a Personal Planning Day

From the Publisher