Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis

This was a very neat book. Adam Colby's job is to handle estate sales --- in the process of handling this estate sale he finds a bunch of postcards. The postcards detail out the love the Alexanders' had throughout their marriage. Adam sets out to find out the secret to their love and happiness in their long marriage. Adam wants to know what he did wrong that his marriage didn't last and thinks that by finding out more about the Alexanders' love he will find the solution to a happy marriage. 

I really loved this book. It was a very enjoyable read. The author is a Christian and does incorporate God as an integral part of the marriage. I think that alot of the lessons that Adam learned from the Alexanders' marriage could be incorporated into any marriage today and the lesson would help make for a happier marriage. Good advice to learn from. I do wonder if one of the reasons it was easier for the Alexanders was because they did not have children. Therefore they had more time for each other, more money to spend on only each other. Gabe talks about not letting long division happen to their marriage - he defines The Long Division as a marriage dilemma. It is "how the pressures of career, multiplied with life's never-ending responsibilities, constantly divided and redivided a couples' time together, finally producing comfortable strangers rather than passionate lovers." p. 96

To some extent I think that while couples go through a period where when raising children time is divided - they eventually come out of that period of time and have lots of time with each other. There is a time for every season (as the Bible says). And I don't agree this means the couple has to end up just as comfortable strangers but more like comfortable friends, comfortable companions. I am not sure this is a bad thing - to be comfortable friends. And I don't know that it is realistic to expect long division not to happen to some extent when raising children. We do need to give time to the children to raise them properly to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Alexanders' lived an unrealistic life as they didn't have children. It is great to say - take every weekend to spend with each other - when you have no children. You simply can't do that when you have children that also need your time and attention. It is unrealistic. God calls us to have children and to raise a family. It can be a source of great joy and especially in our old age - it can be a source of great comfort. 

Still, I really like the book and do recommend reading it. Just wanted to share my thoughts. Loved the writing style. Very enjoyable book. 

House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson

Really enjoyed reading this book. The three sisters (all adults now) are invited back to a vacation house.  They haven't been there in many years. Their Dad comes in and announces that he has remarried. And the new wife was coming to meet them tomorrow. The family has lots of secrets that end up being discovered as they start to talk about how upset they are by their Dad and his actions. They are upset that he never introduced them to the wife prior to marrying her. They are more upset that this new wife is there and they aren't getting time with their Dad - time that they never have had because he left them with nannies and at boarding schools. 

It is an interesting read but I was surprised by how quickly they forgave their Dad. While I believe that God calls us to forgiveness my experience has been that it is a process - and rarely happens in a week away at a vacation house. The book was good and I did like it. I just didn't find the forgiveness process to be very real to life.