Whether you are newly engaged or celebrating your 50th anniversary, I recommend Dorothy Greco’s Making Marriage Beautiful. This book gave me the words for emotions and feelings I never knew how to express. Every chapter explores topics to which I found myself nodding and reading out loud to my husband.
Greco’s willingness to be vulnerable created a resource that will benefit many couples. She wove true stories with the hard truths of marriage to present practical help and encouragement. I also loved Greco’s humor and creative writing style. She makes reading difficult topics entertaining!
Making Marriage Beautiful covers a wide range of issues, some typical of marriage books but others new to be addressed. Chapters on recognizing disappointment, embracing confession, and the importance of community especially impacted me. This Christ-centered book presents marriage from a theological perspective as well as wisdom from years of professional counseling.
Q & A with Dorothy about Marriage
What qualifies you to write this book?
Twenty-five years of being married to the same man. Twenty-five years of growing together. Twenty-five years of learning how to love. Seriously. Additionally, I have worked as a journalist for more than thirty years. I know how to listen to people and make sense of events. Together, Christopher and I have been running long-term healing and discipleship groups in church setting for more than twenty-years. Christopher is almost done getting his graduate degree in marriage and family therapy. We understand people. We understand the struggles inherent to humanity and marriage in particular. And as you read the book, you’ll discover that we’re willing to be incredibly honest about our own struggles. I think our honesty helps folks to trust us which makes for a better read.
Did your husband feel exposed? You write some mighty vulnerable things about your marriage and about him.
One of the interesting and challenging things about writing a marriage book is that your spouse comes along for the ride. He read and OK’d everything before the publisher saw it. It was very important to me that he signed off on every aspect of the book. I did not want him to feel like I was exposing him or being in any way unfair. There were only a few sections where we disagreed on whether or not to include something. (If he did not want it included, I cut it.) This book does not malign him, poke fun of him, or in any way disrespect him. As he read through the first draft, he laughed in all the places I knew he would because he’s secure and knows I love and respect him.
How is your book different from other marriage books out there?
So glad you asked this question! Making Marriage Beautiful is truly unlike many other marriage books. First, it’s written by a woman to both men and women. This is almost unheard of. Adding Christopher’s words and the eight other husbands ensures that men are well represented. Second, the book contains very vulnerable, real-life stories. Most authors who write about marriage tend not to be as honest as Christopher and I chose to be. I think readers will easily engage and trust me because I’m choosing to trust them. Finally, I refuse to depend upon cliches or formulas. There’s no chapter titled, Ten Steps to a Perfect Marriage! Marriage and transformation is a process and my goal in writing this book is to help men and women navigate that process well. For the long haul.
Why keep working on marriage when it’s so hard?
Indeed, marriage is hard work. It’s the most difficult, and the most rewarding endeavor that I have ever embarked upon. When things get hard, and especially if they stay hard, most of us find it easier to give up, resign ourselves to a mediocre marriage, or in some cases, to sever all ties and hit the restart button. Any of these choices are understandable (and in the case of abuse, it may be advisable to separate or divorce). However, choosing to stay and work gives God an opportunity to change us. To help us mature. As this happens, we learn how to love more fully and truly, this is a beautiful and profound thing. When we learn how to love others, perhaps especially when they are difficult, it allows us to become more like Christ.
How can readers best connect with you: your blog, Facebook, Twitter?
I can be reached through the contact form on my website: dorothygreco.com. I’m also on Twitter: @dorothygreco and I have a professional FB page: Words & Images by Dorothy Greco.
Check out this endorsement from licensed psychologist and Fuller Seminary psychology professor, Dr. Jeff Bjorck:
I am grateful to Dorothy and Christopher Greco for this marriage resource. It will quickly become a annual read for every couple.
Posted by Sharon R Hoover
