Off the Bookshelf: Sheet Music by Dr Kevin Leman

So, as I promised Sarah on her blog, I am following suit in making a point to keep you all up to date (I know you all wanted to know, right?) about what has been off the book shelf around here. Until recently I didn't make a lot of personal reading time, but lately I have missed it so badly, it had to become a priority. God must have known that, because suddenly I seem to be able to fit it in, right after the newly discovered time for personal Bible time. Hmmm.
Anyway, what I most recently finished reading was a non-fiction book called Sheet Music:Uncovering the Secrest of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage, by Dr. Kevin Leman. I think that the physical relationship in marriages, especially Christian ones, are often easy to push aside, and yet are of so, so much importance. Preparation for a good physical relationship is often overlooked in Christian pre-marital counselling, which is a shame. Our society has made it easy to be very confused about what is actually expected of us in the physical part of Christian relationship as so many immoral relationships pervade in modern media. There are very few examples of a solid Christian marriage on TV, in the movies and in mainstream writing (I actually think this is one of the reasons I am so suddenly enamored with 19 Kids and Counting. The Duggars have a Christian home I would love to be adopted into. Or just to have them as mentors. Wow.). So, I picked up this book after I decided I was tired of fighting myself as to what was expected of me as a wife-and that after several years of marriage.

I am not going to go into Dad's and my bedroom relationship-that is for us to know about. I will say that this book is a must-read for any engaged or newlywed couple, as well as those who are old-hand at it all and want a refresher course in a Christian relationship. I was relieved to read a lot of the book, and honestly, if my husband would read anything other than car parts catalogs, I think he would glean a lot out of it. The main thing-we are normal. Everything this good Dr. talked about had me agreeing or going "Oh my goodness, that's us!" and his suggestions for change and improvement have helped already.

The book was an easy and fairly quick read. There are parts that may be a bit much for anyone who is keeping themselves pure for their wedding night-it may be something to save for the week after if you think you may get too sqeamish or want the surprise of your lifetime, lol, but he also has a chapter or two that he specifically recommends reading before you are married, and then recommends the rest of the book for after.
I tend to be wary of Christian writing, as, unfortunately, a lot of it tends to be sub-par, for whatever reason. This was not the case, and if I am going to read about bedroom relationships, honestly, I only want information coming from a Christian background. There is too much misinformation out there, really on both sides of the coin, and it can be hard to find a reliable source. So, the book was good. :)

Biblical Submission Repost

Great post on a Christian wife's role versus her husband's by my friend Sarah.

Curfew

About two weeks ago I got fed up. Fed up with being out late places, whether running errands or visiting or eating out. Fed up with cranky kids after a certain hour. Fed up with no personal time to do anything, whether for me or catching up on a little housework. Thus, I decided upon a curfew-for most of the family. No matter where we are, come 8 p.m., we leave. We go home, get the kids ready for bed and settle in for the night. That is just part of the equation, though. Since we are homeschoolers, I never really worried about getting the kids to bed at a certain hour. They basically plopped when they plopped, and got to sleep in as late as they like. But, when I set up the curfew, the new plan was also that they started going to bed at nine. I would lay Pony Gal down first, reading her a bedtime story or two, then go lay down with Superboy, nursing him to sleep in his bed-yes, his bed. This does several things-affords me a small window of cleanup time from 10-10:45 or so, though it doesn't generally take that long when I am keeping up with things, then husband time until we fall asleep. With Superboy in his bed part of the night, we get some "alone" time and I get some real sleep for just awhile. It varies from night to night how long that is. Some nights I get two hours, some I get 6. When he wakes up, I bring him back into our bedroom to nurse back to sleep until morning. It has only been recently that I have been able to do that part of it, as he has been a heavy night nurser since we brought him home from the hospital. I must say I have really been enjoying my evening time, even getting to knit and sew a little more. I also have been sewing for a certain craft show I will be at in the late fall, and been able to do a lot of that crafting during Dad's later nights out bowling. I also think I have been able to keep the house up better as I keep rearranging and decluttering until EVERYTHING has its place. I have spent a little extra money on shelves, but it is so worth it to have things have permanent homes.