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Letters to My Daughters: The Art of Being a Wife
"Nothing short of a masterpiece."--ANN VOSKAMP
Seeing Your Marriage as a Work of Art
Through more than four decades of marriage, Barbara and Dennis have seen it all--triumphs, tragedies, mistakes, and enduring love and joy. As Barbara's daughters began their own married lives, she wanted to share with them lessons she'd learned through her own marriage as well as those gleaned from years of ministry to couples. In these thoughtful letters she answers tough questions from a multitude of young wives, addressing the realities of marriage with honesty and warmth.
Marriage is a complex work of art, and the callings of husband and wife are important individually but must work in harmony to create a beautiful whole greater than the sum of its parts. Throughout this lovely, gift-worthy book, Barbara uses the arts--painting, dancing, gardening, etc.--to reveal this truth in a wise, insightful, and visually captivating way.
May Letters to My Daughters inspire you to embrace the masterpiece of marriage God wants for you.
Seeing Your Marriage as a Work of Art
Through more than four decades of marriage, Barbara and Dennis have seen it all--triumphs, tragedies, mistakes, and enduring love and joy. As Barbara's daughters began their own married lives, she wanted to share with them lessons she'd learned through her own marriage as well as those gleaned from years of ministry to couples. In these thoughtful letters she answers tough questions from a multitude of young wives, addressing the realities of marriage with honesty and warmth.
Marriage is a complex work of art, and the callings of husband and wife are important individually but must work in harmony to create a beautiful whole greater than the sum of its parts. Throughout this lovely, gift-worthy book, Barbara uses the arts--painting, dancing, gardening, etc.--to reveal this truth in a wise, insightful, and visually captivating way.
May Letters to My Daughters inspire you to embrace the masterpiece of marriage God wants for you.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2016
121 people are currently reading
854 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Rainey
111 books24 followersBarbara Rainey is a wife, mother of six and grandmother of eight, speaker, and best-selling author of Moments Together with You. Barbara and her husband Dennis Rainey founded FamilyLife in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1976. Together they have coauthored 12 books, including Rekindling the Romance, Moments Together for Couples and Starting Your Marriage Right. Barbara is a frequent guest on FamilyLife Today(tm) radio broadcasts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
April 29, 2016
5/5 stars.
They say never to judge a book by it's cover, but I think in this case you absolutely could. I originally picked up Letters To My Daughters: The Art Of Being A Wife by Barbara Rainey because the cover was just so pretty. When I received it in the mail it gave me the impression of a gift book that you could give to a newly engaged or married friend.
(Watch my vlog review on Youtube below.)
However, the content is much greater than gift-book quality, in my opinion. Each chapter compares marriage to a different art form and includes letters that Rainey writes to her daughters. I am not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it gave such solid marriage advice. I love how Rainey incorporated stories from her own marriage on things she did well and things she could have done better, and how any correction she offered through her letters was done in such a gentle and loving spirit. It really did come across like she was speaking to one of her daughters, even though clearly she is writing this for many young wives.
I had a couple "aha" moments while reading this book, and it brought to mind things I would like to change about how I interact with my husband in the future. I was not expecting to get so much out of this book, and I so appreciated how biblically grounded the advice was.
The pages in this book aren't just text, they are splashed with watercolor illustrations, pages of lettering, and beautiful photographs. I think it can be a touchy thing to give someone a book on marriage, but this book is so beautiful that it would be natural to give it as a gift - and the content is solid enough to be a great jumping-off point for brides. However, I think even ladies who have been married for a while could get some insight from this book. I certainly did, and it made me wish I did read this earlier in our marriage!
Note: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
They say never to judge a book by it's cover, but I think in this case you absolutely could. I originally picked up Letters To My Daughters: The Art Of Being A Wife by Barbara Rainey because the cover was just so pretty. When I received it in the mail it gave me the impression of a gift book that you could give to a newly engaged or married friend.
(Watch my vlog review on Youtube below.)
However, the content is much greater than gift-book quality, in my opinion. Each chapter compares marriage to a different art form and includes letters that Rainey writes to her daughters. I am not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it gave such solid marriage advice. I love how Rainey incorporated stories from her own marriage on things she did well and things she could have done better, and how any correction she offered through her letters was done in such a gentle and loving spirit. It really did come across like she was speaking to one of her daughters, even though clearly she is writing this for many young wives.
I had a couple "aha" moments while reading this book, and it brought to mind things I would like to change about how I interact with my husband in the future. I was not expecting to get so much out of this book, and I so appreciated how biblically grounded the advice was.
The pages in this book aren't just text, they are splashed with watercolor illustrations, pages of lettering, and beautiful photographs. I think it can be a touchy thing to give someone a book on marriage, but this book is so beautiful that it would be natural to give it as a gift - and the content is solid enough to be a great jumping-off point for brides. However, I think even ladies who have been married for a while could get some insight from this book. I certainly did, and it made me wish I did read this earlier in our marriage!
Note: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
May 5, 2016
Every marriage is rife with impossibilities. But in those times, we can experience the wonder of repentance, restoration, and renewal as we risk building doorways to the hidden corners of our souls. Married couples who love genuinely, willingly, and persistently come to see their beloved in a wholly different way.
Barbara Rainey and her husband are well known with their books on marriage. I have never read any. I do have them on my shelf at home and after reading this, I will make more of an effort to read them. This book on marriage is different. It is written as a letter to her daughters. My mother and I never had a problem with speaking with each other on difficult things but my own daughters are more reserved when it comes to personal issues. This book would make a great gift to your daughter if she becomes engaged to maybe open the door of discussion on what a Christian marriage looks like and the difficulties facing marriage in general. Rainey takes several of her pastimes such as gardening, painting, and dancing to express the contrasts that come with marriage. The good and the bad, the redeemed and the struggle. After reading how she compares marriage to a dance, I have a desire to take dance lessons just to work together the leading and following of how a well choreographed dance looks like.
Each chapter starts with a question from one of her married daughters and ends with wisdom on the things we need to remember to draw near to God and love our man. It is a conversation to see that we are not alone in our struggles and that it takes work that is never done.
Quotes that I found inspiring.
But when I focused on responding to my husband's faltering steps and less on helping him lead, I found more joy in our experience and he improved more rapidly. And interestingly, when I centered my attention on following, he was more aware of his mistakes and apologized quickly when I wasn't getting in his way and it was his mistake. Connection, our instructors taught us, was the key to success.
Give him the gift of respect for who he is today, knowing your gift will free him to become the leader God knows you need tomorrow.
When pornography is found on a computer or in a drawer, don't accept an apology or a commitment to change. The problem is already a cancer. What at is required is accountability and wisdom. Accountability can come when enough men in his life know of the problem to be a force of goodness in prayer, direct interaction and confession. No one address this problem alone with success. Wisdom grows when the deeper roots of anger are seen in the struggle itself.
A great gift and a great reminder of the gift of marriage.
A Special Thank You to Bethany House and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
Barbara Rainey and her husband are well known with their books on marriage. I have never read any. I do have them on my shelf at home and after reading this, I will make more of an effort to read them. This book on marriage is different. It is written as a letter to her daughters. My mother and I never had a problem with speaking with each other on difficult things but my own daughters are more reserved when it comes to personal issues. This book would make a great gift to your daughter if she becomes engaged to maybe open the door of discussion on what a Christian marriage looks like and the difficulties facing marriage in general. Rainey takes several of her pastimes such as gardening, painting, and dancing to express the contrasts that come with marriage. The good and the bad, the redeemed and the struggle. After reading how she compares marriage to a dance, I have a desire to take dance lessons just to work together the leading and following of how a well choreographed dance looks like.
Each chapter starts with a question from one of her married daughters and ends with wisdom on the things we need to remember to draw near to God and love our man. It is a conversation to see that we are not alone in our struggles and that it takes work that is never done.
Quotes that I found inspiring.
But when I focused on responding to my husband's faltering steps and less on helping him lead, I found more joy in our experience and he improved more rapidly. And interestingly, when I centered my attention on following, he was more aware of his mistakes and apologized quickly when I wasn't getting in his way and it was his mistake. Connection, our instructors taught us, was the key to success.
Give him the gift of respect for who he is today, knowing your gift will free him to become the leader God knows you need tomorrow.
When pornography is found on a computer or in a drawer, don't accept an apology or a commitment to change. The problem is already a cancer. What at is required is accountability and wisdom. Accountability can come when enough men in his life know of the problem to be a force of goodness in prayer, direct interaction and confession. No one address this problem alone with success. Wisdom grows when the deeper roots of anger are seen in the struggle itself.
A great gift and a great reminder of the gift of marriage.
A Special Thank You to Bethany House and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
March 16, 2016
First, I want to say this book is just beautiful from the inside out. It is a real treasure. As a woman, daughter and wife, this is a book that every female should own. I cannot express how much I have laughed and cried throughout this book. The letters Barbara writes in here makes me feel like a human who struggles, who isn't perfect, who has to make things work in life, in my marriage, and as a woman. The pictures are stunning and not just visually, but the art of how she weaves metaphors to talk about lessons she wants to teach the reader. Full of wisdom, advice, and Biblical truth, I can't but help love this book. It has a beautiful white book marker on the inside of it to hold your spot. I have been utilizing it as a devotional to savor the journey.
Letters to my Daughter is the perfect gift for someone who has been married for thirty years, someone who is recently engaged or a newly married woman. It is an absolute treasure that I love. I would give this book 100 stars because I just enjoy the wisdom, the beauty and the Godly insight of this book.
Thank you Bethany House for providing me a complimentary copy for my honest review. I was not compensated for a positive review.
Letters to my Daughter is the perfect gift for someone who has been married for thirty years, someone who is recently engaged or a newly married woman. It is an absolute treasure that I love. I would give this book 100 stars because I just enjoy the wisdom, the beauty and the Godly insight of this book.
Thank you Bethany House for providing me a complimentary copy for my honest review. I was not compensated for a positive review.
August 13, 2018
This book is full of beautiful calligraphed quotes - so fun! Christian books of this sort can sometimes seem like they took a lot of words to say something that could have been stated much more simply, and while I did feel that for parts of the book, the beginning and ending brought refreshing and inspiring reminders.
February 25, 2022
This is one of my favorite books on marriage that I have read. Uncompromising with truth, but shared in a way so full of love and understanding. The metaphors used in this book made the concepts so clear in my mind, and the writing style was very personal and inviting. Definitely recommend this book!
January 27, 2021
Second half spoke more to me than the first, but overall excellent resource of scripture encouragement and visionary word pictures to speak into any Christian marriage.
December 26, 2024
A book I want to come back to again and again as the Lord opens the door for me to walk in marriage.
I so appreciate the way it focuses on my heart.
I so appreciate the way it focuses on my heart.
April 2, 2016
The Art of Being a Wife
“What’s that, Mum?” asked my son, pointing to a small plastic something-on-the- ground.
“That’s just a barrette,” I replied, off-handedly.
“What’s a barrette?” he asked — framing in one simple question the deeply entrenched boy-culture and the essence of the testosterone-laced air that I have breathed for the past two decades. With this as background, I approach Barbara Rainey’s Letters to My Daughters with a degree of awe and irony, for I am in the process of solving the other half of the marital equation by raising sons who will also bring to their marriages a high view of the sovereignty of God and a determination to make things work.
Mystery is a major theme in the Bible’s treatment of marriage, and this mystery is tied in with the image of Christ and His bride, the church. Barbara helps her readers to see through her written replies to questions from her daughters and daughter-in-law that marriage is NOT a mystery to be solved, but, rather, a mystery to be lived — through great faith and a steady flow of grace and forgiveness, which “keeps the windows clean and clear.”
Drawing on metaphors from art, music, gardening, and even cooking, the Rainey family dialogues on a wide range of subjects including the pros and cons of egalitarianism vs. complementarianism; intimacy and lack of desire; respecting a husband who is not acting respectable; and the gritty process of living a hard-scrabble life beside another sinner.
•Having logged forty years of marriage, mothered six children, and lived most of those years in the spotlight as a ministry wife, Barbara has earned the right to speak out against “fairy tale” theology in which God owes us a happy ending. She has learned the hard way that it is possible to offer helpful input to one’s husband without becoming his mum. Ending every disagreement in their marriage with a restatement of their promise to stay together has been glue that has held them in love, along with the truth that the wife is NOT her husband’s moral custodian. Husbands are responsible for their own hearts before God – and we wives have plenty of our own junk to take care of, anyway.
•Having endured through some wintry years in her married life, Barbara offers the encouragement that spring can come again. Without syrup or sentimentality, and with sensitivity toward those who truly are in unhealthy (or even dangerous) relationships, Letters to My Daughters comes alongside young wives with encouragement to believe in their husbands, to exercise verbal self-restraint when tempted to criticize or bad-mouth, and to understand that as dark shadows anchor the objects in a painting, so our shadowed experiences of struggle, and sacrifice anchor us to the God who is solid and unchanging. He does not send difficult circumstances to “see how much you can bear, but so that you can experience His sustaining strength holding you up.”
As I read this heartfelt exchange between a wise mum and her dear girls, I became even more thankful for the daughter-in-love who has become a precious part of our family. As daughters of Eve, each of us needs a daily recommitment to trust the Choreographer as we move in harmony with our partner, to embrace the glorious differences between men and women as we follow God’s recipe for reflecting His image so that our marriages can become “a statement of wonder to the watching world — statements of the goodness, the power and the beauty of God.”
//
This book was provided by Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
“What’s that, Mum?” asked my son, pointing to a small plastic something-on-the- ground.
“That’s just a barrette,” I replied, off-handedly.
“What’s a barrette?” he asked — framing in one simple question the deeply entrenched boy-culture and the essence of the testosterone-laced air that I have breathed for the past two decades. With this as background, I approach Barbara Rainey’s Letters to My Daughters with a degree of awe and irony, for I am in the process of solving the other half of the marital equation by raising sons who will also bring to their marriages a high view of the sovereignty of God and a determination to make things work.
Mystery is a major theme in the Bible’s treatment of marriage, and this mystery is tied in with the image of Christ and His bride, the church. Barbara helps her readers to see through her written replies to questions from her daughters and daughter-in-law that marriage is NOT a mystery to be solved, but, rather, a mystery to be lived — through great faith and a steady flow of grace and forgiveness, which “keeps the windows clean and clear.”
Drawing on metaphors from art, music, gardening, and even cooking, the Rainey family dialogues on a wide range of subjects including the pros and cons of egalitarianism vs. complementarianism; intimacy and lack of desire; respecting a husband who is not acting respectable; and the gritty process of living a hard-scrabble life beside another sinner.
•Having logged forty years of marriage, mothered six children, and lived most of those years in the spotlight as a ministry wife, Barbara has earned the right to speak out against “fairy tale” theology in which God owes us a happy ending. She has learned the hard way that it is possible to offer helpful input to one’s husband without becoming his mum. Ending every disagreement in their marriage with a restatement of their promise to stay together has been glue that has held them in love, along with the truth that the wife is NOT her husband’s moral custodian. Husbands are responsible for their own hearts before God – and we wives have plenty of our own junk to take care of, anyway.
•Having endured through some wintry years in her married life, Barbara offers the encouragement that spring can come again. Without syrup or sentimentality, and with sensitivity toward those who truly are in unhealthy (or even dangerous) relationships, Letters to My Daughters comes alongside young wives with encouragement to believe in their husbands, to exercise verbal self-restraint when tempted to criticize or bad-mouth, and to understand that as dark shadows anchor the objects in a painting, so our shadowed experiences of struggle, and sacrifice anchor us to the God who is solid and unchanging. He does not send difficult circumstances to “see how much you can bear, but so that you can experience His sustaining strength holding you up.”
As I read this heartfelt exchange between a wise mum and her dear girls, I became even more thankful for the daughter-in-love who has become a precious part of our family. As daughters of Eve, each of us needs a daily recommitment to trust the Choreographer as we move in harmony with our partner, to embrace the glorious differences between men and women as we follow God’s recipe for reflecting His image so that our marriages can become “a statement of wonder to the watching world — statements of the goodness, the power and the beauty of God.”
//
This book was provided by Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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October 2, 2018Wonderful and true. Real answers for real questions that we all have about marriage. Written in a simple - bite-sized - way- for all stages of married life.
great gift idea for the new bride - or a wonderful read for those of us who have been at it for a while.
great gift idea for the new bride - or a wonderful read for those of us who have been at it for a while.
September 8, 2021
BEAUTIFUL book on multiple levels!!! I wish I had this wisdom in my earlier years of marriage. A very high view of marriage and how to navigate the muddy waters is offered with such beautiful insights!
April 12, 2019
Such an encouraging read ❤️
November 3, 2024
Нелош прочит на "класическата" роля на съпругата, включваща (но без да натрапва) библейски истории и поуки.
June 19, 2025
The prose felt a bit juvenile, as if the author were writing to teen girls rather than women, but the advice was solid and made for good discussion with our group and spouses.
dnf
July 31, 2018This is clearly one that didn't capture my attention - as it's been on my currently reading for over a year.... I own the book, however, so I look forward to occasionally picking it up in the future. Just not one that grabbed me right away. It is a beautiful book, however.
October 9, 2016
If you are looking for a perfect gift for the engaged woman or new bride, this would be my choice. A great deal of thought was put into the presentation of this title. Each chapter used water colored beautiful artwork and romantic themes, such as grand architecture, elegant music, secret garden just to mention a few. Not only was the artwork exquisite but the text was equally wonderful. Barbara Rainey and her husband Dennis lead workshops on marriage and after 40 years they understand the beauty and complexity of marriage. The sub title is Art of Being a wife, and it truly is a fine art, which must be cultivated with tender care. It is written in a letter form to the daughters, after the daughter has asked why various aspects of marriage are hard. At the end of each letter from Barbara is a short list of items to remember. It would be a great book for the new couple to go through also. Nothing could be more beautiful than this book and the marriage she describes.
December 29, 2016
This book did have some nuggets of wisdom, but I actually found it pretty hard to finish. I feel like each chapter was forced into making an analogy to art, and I think was actually really repetitive because of that. I did not find it to be very deep either... there weren't really any insights that inspired different thinking. I found a lot of it to be fluff, in short. But, perhaps I'm being too harsh because I really don't like the color pink... you judge for yourself, but I would not recommend this to my married girl friends.
October 27, 2017
This book was not revelatory for me (I've read a number of Christian marriage/relationship books that covered the same topics with the same basic insights), but it does give solid advice with a surprisingly deep theological bent. Mrs. Rainey is absolutely practical in her constant reminders that marriage is not an easy or neat endeavor but rather one that requires constant effort and repentance.
I especially liked her repeated emphasis that your marriage will be different from any other and that we ought therefore to avoid comparison that will only lead to covetousness. She also does an admirable job of handling questions about Biblical injunctions for wives to submit to their husbands in a way that is kind and understanding of modern challenges yet unbending from the Scriptural truth. In part, she is able to manage this because she frequently points to marriage as a picture of Christ and the Church, reminding her "daughters" that this is the pattern for our earthly marriages and reveals much to us about the nature of true headship and submission.
Throughout the book she manages to encourage wives to trust their husbands and hold them in high regard even when it seems the men in our lives are not really worthy of such respect. Yet, she is also careful not to condone abusive situations or other extremes. Over and over, the truth of which she reminds her readers is that there will be lots of mediocre and even dark times but that persistence and faithfulness (both to marriage vows and to Christ) will see you through these less attractive parts of marriage and actually be the things that strengthen the marriage more and more.
At times the advice did seem a bit repetitious. I don't know whether the book is intended so much as a sit-down read or a browsing read. And her tactic of choosing a metaphor for each chapter (marriage is like . . . dancing or painting or tending a secret garden, etc.) at times resulted in trite or forced comparisons. Nevertheless, this is certainly a solid book for young Christian wives that may show its fruits surprisingly in the day to day life of marriage.
I especially liked her repeated emphasis that your marriage will be different from any other and that we ought therefore to avoid comparison that will only lead to covetousness. She also does an admirable job of handling questions about Biblical injunctions for wives to submit to their husbands in a way that is kind and understanding of modern challenges yet unbending from the Scriptural truth. In part, she is able to manage this because she frequently points to marriage as a picture of Christ and the Church, reminding her "daughters" that this is the pattern for our earthly marriages and reveals much to us about the nature of true headship and submission.
Throughout the book she manages to encourage wives to trust their husbands and hold them in high regard even when it seems the men in our lives are not really worthy of such respect. Yet, she is also careful not to condone abusive situations or other extremes. Over and over, the truth of which she reminds her readers is that there will be lots of mediocre and even dark times but that persistence and faithfulness (both to marriage vows and to Christ) will see you through these less attractive parts of marriage and actually be the things that strengthen the marriage more and more.
At times the advice did seem a bit repetitious. I don't know whether the book is intended so much as a sit-down read or a browsing read. And her tactic of choosing a metaphor for each chapter (marriage is like . . . dancing or painting or tending a secret garden, etc.) at times resulted in trite or forced comparisons. Nevertheless, this is certainly a solid book for young Christian wives that may show its fruits surprisingly in the day to day life of marriage.
November 5, 2017
What I Liked
This book is beautiful! It's aesthetically and lyrically pleasing. Art covers almost every page through water color, paintings, calligraphy, and color. Rainey's words are also beautiful and poetic. I was captivated by her words and often encouraged. She paints marriage realistically but beautifully. It's evident she cherishes the union of marriage but is aware that it's difficult, and I found myself underlining page after page.
What I Didn't Like
Theologically, Rainey is a little more Calvinist than I am, and it shows in some of her examples. She also tends towards the conservative side. However, this is totally personal doctrine and didn't at all dissuade me from gaining from her wisdom and the beauty of her writing.
This book is beautiful! It's aesthetically and lyrically pleasing. Art covers almost every page through water color, paintings, calligraphy, and color. Rainey's words are also beautiful and poetic. I was captivated by her words and often encouraged. She paints marriage realistically but beautifully. It's evident she cherishes the union of marriage but is aware that it's difficult, and I found myself underlining page after page.
What I Didn't Like
Theologically, Rainey is a little more Calvinist than I am, and it shows in some of her examples. She also tends towards the conservative side. However, this is totally personal doctrine and didn't at all dissuade me from gaining from her wisdom and the beauty of her writing.
May 25, 2020
This was a perfect bedtime devotional for the first month of my marriage. There were so many nuggets of wisdom- REAL, AUTHENTIC, wisdom of what marriage truly means. I appreciated so much how in every letter Barbara took us back to the root, the beginning, and that is God’s design for marriage. In her letters she never gives a “fix it easy” solution, she always points to the One where all solutions are found. The only reason for the four stars is because some of the letters were stretched a bit to meet the topic of the group of chapters, but all in all this was a great book and I look forward to reading it several times during changing seasons in my own beautiful, mysterious, knit together marriage.
February 21, 2023
“What I believe about [my spouse] is the starting place for everything I say or don’t say. We…choose what others will see in our [spouses] by what we focus on when we talk about [them]. What you believe is what will grow. What you see is what others will see. The story of your marriage is yours to frame and develop.”
There is some good advice in this book.
But every chapter is a full of forced metaphors and analogies, titles that give you no clue what the chapter is about, swirly quotes, and some pages with wider margin than text. It was too girly-girly for me.
Vertical Marriage was a better book because the authors were willing to tell the raw parts of their story. In this book, both the daughters’ “letters” and Rainey’s sermonesque responses were too general to feel authentic.
There is some good advice in this book.
But every chapter is a full of forced metaphors and analogies, titles that give you no clue what the chapter is about, swirly quotes, and some pages with wider margin than text. It was too girly-girly for me.
Vertical Marriage was a better book because the authors were willing to tell the raw parts of their story. In this book, both the daughters’ “letters” and Rainey’s sermonesque responses were too general to feel authentic.
March 8, 2020
This book is great for women in all stages of marriage, but I think it’s really pointed and written for newly married women. I was a month into my marriage and I was looking for a book that would help explain all of these emotions of wanting to be perfect and what not to me and that it was normal. Hearing it from others just was not cutting it, so I did some research and happened upon this book. It was what I needed for the time. It took my most of the first year of my marriage to get through it but I believe God had something in these pages for those specific moments that I picked it up again and again. I highly recommend this book for the newly married women.
October 20, 2023
Un baile, una pintura, un jardín. La autora utiliza hermosas metáforas para referirse al matrimonio. Está lleno de respuestas a preguntas y quejas de situaciones diarias en un matrimonio. Las respuestas están escritas de forma tan amable e íntima, con ejemplos de su propia vida y apuntando a Cristo. Me encantó cuando habla de la sumisión/autoridad y lo compara con el baile. Como el hombre guía, la mujer baila de espaldas confiando, como Él es fuerte y la levanta y ella da bellas vueltas, se lleva ella el espectáculo al seguir su liderazgo. Ambas partes y los roles bien definidos crean este arte.
June 22, 2022
Barbara Rainey has so much wisdom to share. Reading this book is like having a conversation with a wise mentor, who is a mom but will be more candid with you than your own mother. I really appreciate how open Barbara is - no topic is off limits. She is candid about trials in her own marriage, and despite what you might assume based on how steady her marriage is now, she has experienced a gamut. I highly recommend this biblical encouragement and resource for any wife - newlywed or seasoned in marriage.
April 18, 2023
I loved this books: so many gems. This book is written with empathy. I learned so much male sexuality and how the females view their needs vrs males but how each should be valued. Learnt a lot about the practicality of love, the difference in you partner are meant to sharpen you and shape you to be more like Christ. I learnt the importance of respecting your partner, protecting his reputation cause you decide how people view him and showing respect, patience’s, support. Building a garden of love
February 16, 2018
The metaphors that make up this book are beautiful, convicting, and helped me apply the truths I learned like never before. Barbara Rainey is an amazing writer who gently weaves the truths of Scripture and her wisdom of many years of marriage into this book in a way that you can’t help but glean something from it.
Beautifully written, solid with the truth.
I highly recommend to any wife, young or seasoned.
Beautifully written, solid with the truth.
I highly recommend to any wife, young or seasoned.
October 22, 2019
I've read a lot of Christian marriage books but this one absolutely takes the cake. The author's advice was concise, easy to understand and implement into my own marriage. She has written this book as though literally writing letters to her daughters about her marriage experience and lessons and through that, the book is warmer... less instructional like a manual and more so loving encouragement. I will no doubt re-read this many times.
January 18, 2025
I enjoyed this book, and it did feel like I was reading a letter from my mom. I appreciated the godly wisdom and breadth of topics she covered. However, I read this book in year 13 of my marriage so while I definitely learned things and enjoyed some good reminders while reading, overall I think I would have benefited more from reading this within my first 5 years of marriage instead. Nevertheless, would recommend.
December 31, 2018
There was a lot of good biblical advice, which is most important; however, there were too many art analogies. I think a Christian woman who likes art would really appreciate this book. Nevertheless, I still have a lot to take away and things to work on to be a better and godly wife by the power of the Holy Spirit.
September 6, 2023
God in everything....
I was truly amazed at all the ways in which Barbara described the different familiar themes in which God created marriage in the different forms so familiar to all of us. Everyone who delights in the Lord and seeks a life of godly relationships needs to read this book to strengthen their faith.
I was truly amazed at all the ways in which Barbara described the different familiar themes in which God created marriage in the different forms so familiar to all of us. Everyone who delights in the Lord and seeks a life of godly relationships needs to read this book to strengthen their faith.
November 26, 2025
Really loved this book! Gave me some really good ideas and thoughts about my marriage. Didn’t ever feel condescending or like I was in the wrong. I definitely had to do some inward looking into my own actions and heart while reading this. Thank you Jesus for using this book in my life and my marriage!
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