50 Fridays Marriage Challenge review

The Fifty Fridays Marriage Challenge by Jeff and Lora Helton
Goodreads Summary:

Transform your marriage with this revitalizing relationship guide that challenges couples to answer important questions together and grow in mutual understanding.In our modern, fast-paced society, it is easy for couples to drift apart and suddenly find their marriages in need of serious help. If this sounds familiar, then Pastor Jeff Helton and his wife Lora have a challenge for you: sit down once a week with your spouse to answer a question together. It could be something as simple as “What makes you laugh out loud?” or as deep and challenging as “If you had one day left on earth, what would you say to your spouse?” or “Are you satisfied with our level of physical intimacy?”

The 50 Fridays Marriage Challenge is a fun book specifically designed to spark open and honest conversation between partners at any stage of married life. Each short chapter includes an engaging question, a brief message, an encouraging quote, a Bible scripture, and a prayer. The short messages bring hope to rocky marriages by providing a safe, gentle space for discussing important matters, such as communication, conflict, in-laws, finances, children, sex, and much more.

By taking the 50 Fridays Marriage Challenge, husbands and wives will find that their Friday evening talks—whether they laugh together, delve deep into the topic at hand, or plan and dream for the future—may be the only time they spend in close conversation that doesn't involve the kids, the checking account, or who took out the trash. Spend a few precious moments together once a week with this book, and you will ultimately see your marriage transformed.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. The release date is September 3rd, 2013. Current Kindle  price is $9.72.  (9/6/13)

My Thoughts:
The idea behind this devotional is pretty obvious from the title, but just in case: The idea is to spend a few minutes each week being intentional about your marriage. Pick a day and a time to set aside to converse and connect with your spouse. There are 50 questions/challenges, so technically it would take you 50 weeks to complete. While that might seem overwhelming it really isn't. That is five or ten minutes a week! I hope you would consider your spouse worth that time...or you might want to be looking for other marriage counselling books... :) You can easily customize this to your relationship and lifestyle. Perhaps two questions a week or one a night! 

The devotions themselves are short. Each week opens with a question or challenge, then a Bible verse, the devotion, and then a quote. The devotions aren't just stories from the author's lives like so many other books, but offer a lot of practical lists and ideas. This ALWAYS hooks me. I am a gal who NEEDS PRACTICAL advice! 

This is a great Christian devotional. Because I was trying to read it in time to review, I didn't get to go through all the questions on a weekly basis with my husband like the book suggests. I read through it straight, but will definitely be going back to share with Hubby all my highlights. 

I did go over a few with Hubby on a 2 hour car trip. He didn't seem to mind them, which for him says a lot about how good the book actually is. He thought they were the perfect length. The challenges we covered seemed to be not too 'hard' and not too 'easy'. Some of the challenges I read through myself were 'meh' compared to some of the 'better' challenges. I found myself disappointed in those ones. I think the authors set themselves up for a lot of practical tips, hints, and activities and so it really hit me when I came across one that wasn't as helpful. 

Official Rating: 4 Stars. I would recommend this book to all my married friends!! It is a great way to spend time focusing on your spouse each week.