Marriage is great, but marriage is hard. A continual learning experience. An up-close, totally exposed, nowhere-to-hide sharing of life's everythings--the good and the not-so-good--where the real you becomes really known. Even to yourself. And where grace and forgiveness, both given and received, are able through God to become more raw and redemptive than you ever thought possible.

30 Days to Your Best Marriage is a prime way to keep your relationship growing and thriving. It provides the kind of spiritual connection point that helps you walk hand-in-hand together, traveling through Bible verses that focus on the covenant of marriage and the impact God intends it to create on each of you, individually and as a couple. After 30 days of focusing on your marriage through the lens of Scripture, you'll begin to experience a new joy in doing life together.

What separates happy marriages from miserable ones?

Surprisingly, it's not healthy communication. It's not conflict resolution skills. It's actually the size of the marriage's joy gap .

When the joy gap gets bigger, problems are more likely to overwhelm you, resentment creeps in, and you start to feel distant and alone in your marriage. When the joy gap is smaller, you regularly feel connected and happy, problems feel manageable, and your marriage becomes a reliable source of joy. But how do you ensure that you're experiencing joy regularly?

Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey have studied relationships (and neuroscience) and discovered four habits that keep joy regular and problems small. Some couples do them naturally, but anyone can learn. That's why each chapter includes 15-minute exercises that boost joy and re-train your brain to make joy your default setting. You'll learn new skills including how to:

Find out what your marriage looks like after a little work and a whole lot of joy.

In as little as 15 minutes a day, you can do something meaningful for your husband and grow in your faith. From washing his car to writing a positive post about him on social media to watching his favorite movie with him, these pages are full of creative, simple, and interactive ideas on how to bless your husband. You'll discover daily Scripture verses, inspirational readings, and journaling prompts to encourage you as well!

In the first volume, A Holy Vision for Family Life, we hear the voice of a wise and loving mentor, calling us to the old paths laid out for the family in the Bible. Here is Gouge's helpful exposition of Ephesians 5:21"€"6:4, where he lays out the wife's voluntary submission to her husband, the husband's sacrificial love for his wife, the child's obedient honoring of parents, and the parents' nurturing leadership of their children. Reading it is like sitting down to coffee with a gentle grandfather and wise pastor.