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It’s my wedding anniversary this month.  My husband and I have now been together longer than the years I lived under my parent’s roof…surreal that. 

We’ve gone through many seasons in our marriage, had our ups and downs.  I thought I knew my husband inside and out, but this book helped me to appreciate him in a new way.  It helped him to understand me better as well.  Although, I’m sure he’d still say he thinks I’m a complicated creature 🙂 

Here is a review of my pick for Book of the Month, April 2015:

 

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts

 

 

Interestingly, this book is the No. 1 Best Seller in the Marriage category on Amazon with over 5 thousand reviews!  That gives an indication of how wildly popular this book is.  4,269 of those 5 thousand plus reviews gave it a 5 star rating while less than 300 gave it a lesser review.  It is also a continual New York Times bestseller.

Many marriage reference books are cumbersome to read while this book is surprisingly easy to read.  Many have claimed that it saved their marriage, impressive for a slight book of 200 or so pages, a portion of which is the personal profile.  Others feel it contains good common sense information and nothing new.  

To the later view, I say common sense is seemingly lost in emotion.  In other words, emotions run high in relationships; emotions can overpower common sense, and everything becomes complicated.  Taking the complicated, untangling it, and transforming the simple yet profound into practical steps is worthy of applause. 

The author, Gary Chapman has over thirty-five years in marriage counseling and is the author of numerous other books.  He states that ~

 

 

There are stages in relationships and marriage.  Think of the dating period, extending into the “honeymoon” phase ~ The relationship is fresh and exciting.  It is so easy to put aside little differences and fall in love.  

Then demands of life and the passage of time seem to strip away the ease and some relationships stagnate.  We’d all like to grow in love and understanding, to have a healthy marriage that mutually fulfills.

The simple steps outlined in each chapter, once put into practice, has the potential to deepen our understanding of ourselves and our mate.

The 5 love languages are defined as:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the author’s hypothesis, we either have one strong love language or two equally important love languages that fill up your “love tank”.   Recognizing your partner most likely operates from a different love language will lessen feelings of hurt if you feel they are being insensitive.  And knowing your partner’s love language will help you fill a possible void in their life.   

The reason for a rating of 4.5 out of 5?  No secular source of marriage counseling is perfect, as simple as that.  But I do highly recommend The 5 Love Languages.  Be sure to complete the profile.  You may be surprised to find out what your love language(s) is.  I was!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me, have you read The 5 Love Languages?  What’s your love language?