Book Review: Your Heart's Desire: 14 Truths that will forever change the way you love and are loved

Marriage is hard. That's definitely not a secret to anyone who has been married for any length of time. And the enemy of our hearts is out to tear down and destroy marriages and families. The marriage relationship between a man and a woman is one of the enemy's most sought after targets. And his goal is to rip, shred, and destruct that relationship. And the effects of a destroyed marriage ripples out into the family, the children, and society.

Sheri Rose Shepherd's book, Your Heart's Desire: 14 Truths That Will Forever Change the Way You Love and Are Loved, was written for married women who are either currently experiencing troubles in their marriage or who desire to prevent those struggles. It was also written for single women who "desire a godly man to love her." This book also targets the divorced woman who is seeking healing from the painful effects of divorce.

In Your Heart's Desire, Shepherd shares fourteen desires that we have as women that shape the way we love and are loved:

1. Desiring a "Happily Ever After"...
2. Desiring a godly man to marry (for singles)...
3. Desiring to leave a legacy for my loved ones...
4. Desiring God's design that me and my man become one...
5. Desiring God to give me the power to remain pure...
6. Desiring to give and received love...
7. Desiring to embrace my new life in Christ...
8. Desiring to become a woman my man can lead...
9. Desiring my son to grow to become a man of faith...
10. Desiring a miracle to build a new foundation of love...
11. Desiring expressions of love and romance in my marriage...
12. Desiring to believe God can change a man and save a marriage...
13. Desiring to glorify God by showing honor and respect...
14. Desiring to surrender my whole heart to my Lord...

Shepherd is totally vulnerable and transparent in the writing of this book, sharing the struggles she experienced growing up in a split family as well as being completely honest in sharing about the struggles she and her husband experienced in their marriage.

I loved the following excerpt from the book: "Our lives may not be the ones we have longed for, but the greatest testimony is not how we started but how we finish. It isn't getting what we want; it's giving what we have. It isn't getting our way; it's doing God's will no matter what anyone else we love does. The legacy is not in our comfort; it is in our character." How true is that!

Here's another great point: "Our words will have much power when we speak to them [our husbands] as the leaders they want to be not the leaders we see right now."

Each chapter also offers a pray that we as women can pray regarding that particular desire as well as a "letter" from God that is meant to be an encouragement and reminder of His love for us.

This was a very insightful book. Similar to some other books I have read on the topic of being a godly wife, but it was a great easy read full of reminders on how to position ourselves as women to be the wives that God desires us to be. There were also some new points and perspectives I had not previously read/thought about. Shepherd includes many real stories from both her life as well as the lives of people she has counseled.

This was a great book. And I believe that it would be fairly safe to say that every married woman could use some direction and encouragement in their marriage relationship.





*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion.*