As Long As We Both Shall Live , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Gary Smalley Dr. , Ted Cunningham

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134 pages

English

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Designed as a companion to the As Long as We Both Shall Live Study Guide, this DVD is a collection of six sessions of teaching from Gary Smalley and Ted Cunningham. Gary and Ted share personal stories and keen insights into the concepts explored in each session, adding a fresh dimension to the Bible study and discussion format of the study guide. Couples and small groups won't want to miss the biblical teaching offered by these two trusted authorities on successful relationships--and they will be glad they didn't miss it when they experience firsthand the contentment and beauty of a life-giving marriage!

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	11 décembre 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441225719
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0662€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

AS LONG AS WE BOTH SHALL LIVE

© 2009 Gary Smalley and Ted Cunningham
Published by Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com
Revell edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-2571-9
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Other versions used are:
KJV — King James Version . Authorized King James Version.
THE MESSAGE— Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE . Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
NLT —Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation , copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
I (Gary) dedicate this book to my incredible staff at the Smalley Relationship Center. Each day I wake up amazed at how God is using you to minister to couples around the world. You are the reason this message is getting out. Thank you!
I (Ted) dedicate this book to my two children. Corynn Mae, your caring heart and prayers each night melt me. Carson Matthew, you have such a great sense of humor and heart for prayer. I am so proud of both of you! Your mom and I pray daily for your future spouses that they, too, are learning the three most important things in life: to honor God, to honor others and to honor others’ things.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PERSONAL NOTE FROM GARY
1. GREAT EXPECTATIONS
2. EXPOSING DEEP ROOTS
3. CULTURAL INFLUENCES
4. PERSONALITY PLAY
5. PAST RELATIONSHIPS
6. EXPECT THE BEST
7. EXTRAVAGANT LOVE
8. THE SERVANT
9. COMMITTED FOREVER
10. FINISHING WELL
11. A LAUNCHING PLACE
ENDNOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Margaret Feinberg, you are the best! You are a gifted wordsmith and passionate writer. Your energy bleeds through on every page.
A big thank you to Alex Field. You have been so encouraging and a pure delight to work with. Thank you, Kim Bangs, for your devotion and hard work behind this project.
Thank you, Regal and Gospel Light! Bill Greig, you lead your team with excellence.
We also want to say thank you to all of the staff at the Smalley Relationship Center. Day in and day out you serve marriages around the world. Your hard work does not go unnoticed. Thank you.
Thank you, Norma Smalley, Terry Brown, Ron Cunningham, Bonnie Cunningham, Scott Weatherford, Kim Fertig, Sue Parks and Roger Gibson for reading the manuscript and offering great insight.
The staff at Woodland Hills Community Church played a big part in this book. Ted Burden offered many valuable teaching insights. Pam Strayer transcribed, and Denise Bevins handled so many details of my life during the process. Richard Williams helped with the creative process. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
To all of our family and friends, many of whom have stories that fill these pages, we love you and owe a debt of gratitude for your patience in this process.
PERSONAL NOTE FROM GARY

This is my third book with Ted Cunningham. I have known Ted and his wife, Amy, for eight years. He is a great husband and the father of two wonderful kids, Corynn and Carson. Not only is Ted my dear friend, and a great writer and communicator, but he is also my pastor.
Ted and I have served as elders together at Woodland Hills Church in Branson, Missouri, for more than five years now. Each week, my wife, Norma, and I are thrilled to see how God is using Ted to reach thousands in our community. His messages are so practical and vulnerable. I have learned much from Ted and have thoroughly enjoyed writing this book with him. I know you will learn much from him too.
The names of those mentioned throughout this book, as well as the details of the stories, have been changed to protect the identities as well as the relationships of those involved.
CHAPTER 1
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
The expectations you bring to marriage color what you give and what you get, in all aspects of the relationship. Knowing what your specific expectations are and knowing how to handle them will speed your satisfaction and chase away the double threat of disillusionment and disconnection. Just watch how a seemingly perfect marriage could be affected in a negative way by dashed expectations during one frightening event.
Athletic, good-looking and fun-loving, Jon was the kind of guy women dreamed of marrying. When he met Heather, he knew he had found the love of his life. The young couple enjoyed a storybook wedding, and their marriage was off to a great start. In their free time, they faithfully served together as volunteers with our youth group.
I (Ted) enjoyed watching this couple and their relationship grow together. I’ll never forget the day I was fishing at Taneycomo Lake in Branson, Missouri, when to my surprise I looked up to see Jon and Heather in waders, fishing rods in hand. It blew me away. What could be more perfect than a couple that enjoyed fly-fishing together?
For their one-year anniversary, they took a trip out West. They spent the week in Wyoming, fly-fishing in a private stream, and stayed in a palatial home. It was a dream vacation.
On the first day of fishing, Heather headed down to the stream with Jon, her lover and best friend. It was a cool, clear morning. The backdrop of the mountains, the ripples in the stream and the solitude transformed this fishing trip into a wildly romantic getaway. This would be one of the most memorable days of Heather’s life.
Jon wondered how things could get any better. He had a wife who loved the things he loved and made his dreams a reality. Looking at Heather, he said a quiet prayer of thanks for his beautiful bride.
After a few hours of fishing, Jon and Heather began making their way down the stream to find a better spot. Rounding the corner, they found themselves face to face with a monstrous moose.
Rather than back down, the moose snorted loudly and took a step toward Jon and Heather. The couple looked for a quick exit but found the banks on either side of the stream high and covered in tall prairie grass. Well aware that moose will attack when they feel trapped, the young couple knew they were in a serious situation. 1
Fearing for his life, Jon edged himself and Heather over to the side of the stream. Unfortunately, the bank was too high and awkward for them to climb. In a panic, Jon scurried up the side of the bank, clawing for any clump of prairie grass he could get his hands on. Heather distinctly remembers Jon elbowing her out of the way to get a head start. Her knight in shining armor left her alone to face a gigantic moose. If the animal attacked, she would have to face it on her own. Or at least that’s how Heather tells the story.
Jon’s version is slightly different. He emphatically denies elbowing Heather but admits he was indeed the first one out of the stream. Jon offers a clear and valiant explanation for his reaction; his plan was to get out of the stream, brace himself on top of the bank and reach down for Heather, pulling her out of the moose’s way.
Needless to say, from Heather’s perspective, her husband’s reaction to the situation left her a bit disillusioned. Where was the brave man she had come to expect? Why did her knight in shining armor elbow her out of the way? What happened to the man that any woman would expect to lay down his life for her?
Expectations Are Common to All
Everyone walks into marriage with a set of expectations. These expectations are made up of ideas and concepts that have been planted in our minds and hearts through a wide variety of sources—from overly romanticized film stories and song lyrics to ideals and concepts gathered at school, within our family of origin and the lives of other couples we have known. All of these sources combine to give us an idea of what the perfect marriage should look like.
Some of these expectations are spoken, but the vast majority are unspoken yet embedded in our worldview. Whether you realized it or not, after you said “I do,” you packed more than just clothes, toiletries and shoes in your luggage and headed off on your honeymoon. You brought along all of your thoughts of the future, your hopes for a future family and your dreams of romance.
Many of those hopes and dreams are not only good, but they’re also healthy for a marriage. A desire for close companionship, deep and satisfying conversation, the intimacy and thrill of lovemaking, the birth of precious children and a comfortable home life are wonderful to think about and even better to experience! But what happens if some of those great expectations aren’t met? What then?
For many couples, the perfect marriage includes a house. Lots of young couples get excited about their first home. They can imagine the cute three-bedroom, two-bath home where they can begin to raise a family. This will be a place where they can enjoy each other and live a happy life together.
After they move into their new home and do just a little renovation (which goes as speedily and smoothly as an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition ), along will come the kids. Before they know it, they will have a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Life will be exhausting but good!
The years will roll by without heartache or pain. They look forward to the day when their first child enters high scho