Question: Do you have any other book recommendation for Christian couples whom are both products of divorce? We’ve read The 5 Love Languages and Things I Wish I Had Known Before We Got Married. I have also noticed the The Family You’ve Always Wanted. I’d appreciate any and all recommendations of books on how to create a family life that we were not given. Thank you for all of the amazing advice so far! — Amber
Answer (Gary Chapman): Well, you’ve mentioned the book, The Family You’ve Always Wanted, which I wrote in response to John, a young college student, who became a Christian at the university. After finishing university, he moved to our town and took a job. I got to know him a bit and he said to me, “I grew up in a very dysfunctional family. My father was an alcoholic even though he was a physician and never had a picture of a healthy family. Would you mind if I moved into your house and lived with you and Carolyn and your children for a year, so that I could get a picture of what a healthy family looks like?” He had the same motivation that Amber has. He knew that his family of origin was not a picture of health and he wanted to get one. So, in The Family You’ve Always Wanted, I’m trying to answer that question. I’m sharing with the reader some of the things John observed in our family. Ours is not a perfect family but we, by that time, had some of the basic concepts down and were operating in a pretty healthy manner.
So that would be the book I would recommend. There are thousands of individuals who come to marriage out of homes where their parents were divorced and have the same kind of feelings Amber is having—We want to do it right. We don’t want to go through a divorce down the road. We want a healthy family. So in that book, I think you’ll find some practical help.
