If you have been married for more than a day, it is pretty certain that you have encountered conflict in one form or another. It is inevitable for two people to live in a close relationship day in and day out without rubbing each other the wrong way from time to time. Regardless of whether you have been married in the past to someone else, have lived together, or have been dating for a long time, when you get married you enter a new level of relationship. This new relationship is one you enter with all the best intentions to make last, yet around 41% of 1st marriages end in divorce. I have yet to attend a wedding where the bride, or groom didn’t have all sorts of dreams about the future, none of which included divorce.

In The Marriage Ark: Securing Your Marriage in a Sea of Uncertainty, author Margaret Phillips walks through how to build a strong marriage from 30+ years of experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist. She uses the story of Noah and the uncertainties he faced as an analogy for marriage. She really focuses on first the foundation of the marriage. She talks about how vital it is to look at things realistically, not in the technicolor glasses that so many people enter marriage with.

Throughout this short book, the author give some great advice about how to avoid major conflict before they start, especially for those who are not yet married. She also addresses how important it is to have the flexibility to withstand the natural twists and turns that you will encounter as a married couple. So many of us, myself included, enter marriage with the 20 year plan of how life is going to look. News flash: that twenty year plan rarely turns out exactly like you have it planned out. I know that from experience! 13 years into this marriage thing and my life looks much different than that wedding day plan. Different is not always bad though.

This is such a great book to add to your collection, whether you have been married 30 years, are engaged, or maybe just hope to get married someday. The author has so many practical tips to guide readers on how to deal with conflict, loss, and change. I really hope you will check this book out. If you would like a chance to win your own copy, please check out my Facebook page here.