Messy Beautiful Love: Hope & Redemption for Real Life Marriages {A Book Review & Giveaway}

**Product received for review.

In our nearly 8 years of marriage, my husband and I have seen many marriages around us begin and end. We've seen seemingly good couples who just couldn't make it work. I couldn't help but wonder WHY? Why had these marriages failed, while ours did not? It's not as though we had never faced challenges- in fact quite the opposite. We had taken on deployments, raising a child with autism, a miscarriage...we'd had points of financial success and points where we were barely hanging on paycheck to paycheck. We hadn't known each other for years and years and years, but in fact had only met one another in person 3 short months before marrying. We were complete and total opposites in nearly every way imaginable. Surely, if any marriage had been through the ringer it had been ours...so why were we still standing strong while these others crumbled.

The answer to that question was really quite simply because we were both willing to fight to make our marriage work. While we may not have a lot in common, one thing we both agreed on was that a marriage was meant to last forever. We knew going in that it was not always going to be perfect. There would be fights, there would be hard times and life would inevitably get in the way of the perfect fairy tale ending. We accepted this but agreed that we would stand together through it all and not give up during those inevitable rough patches. Unfortunately, not everyone has this attitude going into a marriage. We live in this disposable world, where everything can be tossed out when its no longer of use- plates, razors, telephones...even furniture isn't built to last like it was in years passed. Sadly, this is the attitude I've seen many carry into marriages all too often. When things are going good, great...but when times get tough, they just toss the relationship out. They fail to realize that marriages have their ups and downs, and there may be times when it's not as easy to love one another as it is on our wedding day. Sometimes love gets a little messy.

This is what Messy Beautiful Love by Darlene Schacht is all about...those times when love is anything but easy. Let's take a look:

"Messy Beautiful Love" delivers an incredible testimony of grace that offers hope for today's marriages and a spark for rekindling love. 

Love gets messy.

Financial problems, sickness, aging parents, a chronically unhappy spouse . . . trials will inevitably come that threaten your marriage. No matter how long you've been married or how strong your relationship is, sooner or later you are going to have a mess to clean up.
"Messy Beautiful Love" is about cleaning up messes God's way, exchanging your ideas for His, and being prepared for both the best and the worst that marriage has to offer.

When you surrender your relationship to God, then and only then will you experience the blessing of marriage as He intended. This is the blessing of obedience. "Messy Beautiful Love" is an invitation to that obedience. The cynical world says marriages don't last, but God knows better. Tune out the world and tune in to Him. When you do that, a beautiful marriage is not only possible, it's inevitable.

Now, first and foremost, I just adore Darlene Schacht. Her blog Time Warp Wife is one of my absolute favorites, and I adored her first book 'The Good Wife's Guide' so I was excited to read this one as well. Now, when you take a look at the title of that previous book and consider that Darlene's blog is dedicated to marriages, it would be easy to assume that Darlene herself must have the perfect marriage- that she never struggled to be a good wife and that everything was always GOOD. We discover very quickly in Messy Beautiful Love that this is truly not always the case. Darlene is quite open and honest about the past troubles in her marriage, her part in them and how despite what could have (and would have) ended many marriages they overcame. It's easy to look at the perfect couple giving advice on maintaining a marriage and saying 'what do you know? you've never been through trials', but that advice certainly means so much more coming from a couple who has been there. A couple who has weathered the storm and come out on the other side...and that's just what Messy Beautiful Love is. Darlene doesn't claim to be perfect or do it right every time, she shares her shortcomings and failures but also how she continues to strive to do better...something we all need to do in our marriages.

Whether you are a newlywed who has experienced no trials or a seasoned wife going through the fires, this is certainly a great read for any wife. It is a great reminder that love is not always easy, but it is always worth fighting for. Messy Beautiful Love is available to purchase at Family Christian stores and online. Learn more and keep up with Family Christian at the links below:

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And one very lucky reader is going to win a copy of their own. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below:

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Winner will be contacted via e-mail after giveaway ends, and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. One entry per household, winning entry will be verified. Odds of winning depend on valid entries received. A Modern Day Fairy Tale is not responsible for prize delivery.