Adventures in Reading: I Choose You Today

Valentine's Day was this past weekend. Did you notice all of the extra 'love' segments, posts, videos, pictures, commercials that have been everywhere?  I did. It seems more and more over the top every year. I saw a commercial encouraging men to show their love for their lady by buying her a 4 foot tall teddy bear.  Oh, it was ONLY $99!  (eye roll!)  All I could think of was, "Where is the heck would someone keep such a huge teddy bear?" I know, I'm to practical sometimes. 
Setting all of the 'commercialized' Valentine's Day mumbo-jumbo aside...I'm reading a book that I think I'm going to read every February from now on. It's about love.   It's called I Choose You Today by Deb DeAromond.

We all make thousands of choices everyday. Simple choices like what to wear or what to eat. Big choices like where to go to college or what kind of car to buy. Meaningful choices like how to respond to a negative comment or when is the right time to speak and when you should listen. In Deb DeAromond's book I Choose You Today, she describes 31 Biblical choices that the reader can make in their marriage to make love last.
I have been using this book as a daily devotional - each day reading a chapter and trying to live that concept out in my marriage. Each chapter is about 5 pages long and includes an explanation of the choice for the day, a short example of how that choice can play out, Biblical references to support the choice, talking questions and a prayer. I really like the straight forward format of this book. It is a book that can be read alone, as a couple, or even in a small group setting. DeAromond writes speaking to married people, but I think this would be a great book for an engaged couple to read together, or even a single person with the desire to prepare their heart for marriage. 
Choosing to love, support, honor and trust my husband every day is one thing. Choosing to tell him that, and showing him, is the next step that DeAromond challenges readers to do. Some of the choices have been challenging for me - like chapter 10 - "I choose to be adaptable". The first line of that chapter made me laugh out loud... "The only person who really likes change is a wet baby." I am notoriously un-adaptable. I don't like change. I especially don't like last minute changes. I get very grouchy. And on the day that I read this chapter, wouldn't you know, God had it all planned out for me to practice showing my love by being adaptable! 
Weather you have been married 5 months, 5 years, or 50 years, I think that the practical ways to make love last described in this book are wonderful reminders for everyone.  To learn more about this book, click the button below. 
I did receive this book free from Litfuse Publishing, however the above is my own true opinion.