“Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn teams up with author and teen advocate Tricia Goyer on a devotional for young single women to help them establish God-honoring thinking and beliefs that will lay a firm foundation for their future marriage.
Movies, television, and novels feature glamorous portrayals of dating and marriage, giving us unrealistic expectations of what true love looks like. A beautiful counterpoint to those dreamy fantasies, Before You Meet Your Future Husband focuses on three areas you, as a young woman, need to address in preparing for
• your heart —nurturing a place where healthy love can grow
• your head —realigning your thoughts with biblical truth
• your hands —learning to make the most of your God-given potential
This uplifting, interactive devotional helps you approach dating from a place of peace and strength, whether you’re in a relationship now or simply hope to be married one day. With a focus on your own transformation, Before You Meet Your Future Husband offers biblical guidance, real-life stories, thought-provoking questions, and intentional prayers to help you prepare now for the future God has in store for you.
Discover the freedom and contentment that come from preparing for a God-honoring, life-giving relationship.”
Series: Connected to the book “Praying for Your Future Husband” by the same authors.
Spiritual Content- All about, many talks about, & many mentions of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Him loving us, being our Bridegroom, having plans for us, His love for us, & trusting Him; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Each of the 30 days start with a Scripture and ends with a prayer; Many, many Scriptures are quoted & listed (a variety of versions are used, NIV, ESV, MSG, TLB, HCSB, etc.); Prayers; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings; Mentions of churches, church going, youth groups, camps, worshiping, & ministers/pastors; Mentions of missionaries & mission work; Mentions of Christians; A mention of the book “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Claude King;
*Note: A mention of some TV stars and musical artists being called idols.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘screwed up’; Mentions of lies; A few mentions of a derailed train & deaths; A few mentions of bullies & being bullied; A few mentions of cussing & “mild cussing”; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of beer;
*Note: Quotes from Jane Austen, Corrie Ten Boom, Willa Cather, Christina Rossetti, John O’Donohue, Lewis B. Smedes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, & Robert Louis Stevenson; A couple mentions of Barbies; A mention of an abusive and manipulative relationship; A mention of a Hallmark movie; A mention of a singer (Todd Tilghman).
Sexual Content- Both authors share their story of wanting to be loved and cherished by a guy as teenagers and wanting a guy to fill their heart (which lead to a lot of brokenness); Many, many mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, & break-ups; Mentions of some girls watching movies that has sexual content (one of the authors explained to a group of girls that those scenes were demeaning to the woman and didn’t “model the kind of love and sexual expression God has designed for a man and a woman” (one of the girls excuses it as a little bit of the dirty stuff sprinkled in with the good stuff won’t hurt them as it’s the real world. The author disagrees with that statement and gives an analogy); A few mentions of songs and movies showing “love” through physical intimacy and two people sleeping together (the authors explain the word as allowing someone to know the deepest parts of you (on a personal level, not just physically) and say to be able to prepare yourself for intimacy with your future husband, open your heart to intimacy with Jesus); A few mentions of wondering about being kissed & holding hands; A few mentions of crushes & flirting; A couple mentions of calling to God to help you if you find yourself being caught up in a rush of emotions and possible physical intimacy; A couple mentions of intimacy in marriage; A mention of wanting to kiss someone; A mention of the author Tricia Goyer finding herself pregnant by a guy that didn’t want to be a part of her life; A mention of a fiancé being with his ex-girlfriend the night before breaking up with his actual fiancée; A mention of being obsessed with boys;
*Note: One of the authors (Tricia Goyer) shares her story of longing for a boyfriend to love her & giving her“whole self away in [her] search for “love”” which lead to pregnancies—one that she chose to have an abortion and one that she decided to have the baby (the fathers did not stay in the picture); A few mentions of hormones.
{Non-Fiction}
224 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ll be honest, it’s hard to review non-fiction books--especially when they’re about someone’s actual life--in this content review format…which is a main reason why I don’t read or review many non-fiction books.
But I wanted to try this one, mainly because I’ve enjoyed another non-fiction book by Robin Jones Gunn and gained from it. With Tricia Goyer joining the writing team for this book, I had pretty high hopes! And overall, I liked it.
Even though this book is all about preparing yourself for your future husband, I really appreciate that one of the authors mentioned a couple times about marriage possibly not being on God’s list for you, even saying “You are loved and worthy, and God has good plans for your life. Those plans may include finding your future husband, or He may lead you on another path”. That last part is something I think is often skipped over as a possibility for Christian young women, and I appreciate seeing that mentioned—especially in a book like this one.
It was a lot of the authors telling us, the readers, about their past experiences, different young women they know, and how God worked through whatever was going on. Personally, I would have preferred a little less stories and more Biblical references, but that’s just my preference, though, I did enjoy a lot of this book. It was good and I think many teen girls could start reading this one, depending on the girl and her thoughts on boys and marriage.
I really appreciate that the main message of this book wasn’t “how to get a good husband”, but that Jesus should be the most important relationship in your life.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Multnomah) for this honest review.
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