On Tour With Generation NeXt Marriage by Tricia Goyer!! (AND A GIVEAWAY!!!)

We're touring with a fantastic book on marriage for this generation called "Generation NeXt Marriage" by Tricia Goyer. If that title sounds familiar, it's because she's also the author of "Generation Next Parenting", another book I highly recommend!

I love Tricia's non-fiction work! She's fun, informative, and non-judgemental in how she presents her thoughts. Tricia has made mistakes, been forgiven, and then takes her life experiences, combines them with facts and Scripture, does her homework (i.e., interviews, quotes, reading the "experts"), and then writes books that are user friendly and relevant to today's generation.

Here's a bit about the book:

Do you still find yourself humming the love songs of the 80s and 90s?

Do you still believe that every marriage should be between soul mates?

But -- do you wonder how you can succeed at love and marriage when the generation you grew up in didn't?

Marriage isn't what it used to be-it can be better than ever.

If you are a Gen Xer, your marriage has challenges and potentials that no other generation has known. A Gen Xer herself, Tricia Goyer offers realistic help to achieve the God-honoring marriage you long for. She includes:

·Ways to protect your marriage despite the broken relationships modeled in your youth

·Stories, suggestions, and confessions from fellow Gen Xers facing the "What now?" question of real-life marriage

·Advice from the ultimate marriage survival guide: the Bible

·Stats, quizzes, sidebars, and study questions related to this "relationally challenged" time in history

·Practical helps for negotiating kids, work, sex, money, and dirty laundry-sometimes all in the same evening

If you are part of a generation of adults who don't want to bow to their culture or live and love like their parents did -- this book is for you.


For instance, chapter one deals with expectations. My husband and I had our expectations, that's for sure!

I expected to have macaroni and cheese with the creamy sauce, he wanted it with the powdery stuff.

I wanted to fry corn tortillas to make tacos like my mom made, he wanted the pre-formed shells like his mom made.

I wanted a comfortable living space filled with decorative items...like my teddy bear collection. He wanted a batchelor pad/music store feel, filled with wall to wall shelves of his record collection and stereo equipment (records: oversized CD's that were black with a tiny hole in the middle to go on the turntable; turntable---oh, never mind!).

Before we were even married, our expectations butted heads frequently. My mom used to tell us, while we were in the midst of yet another silly discussion of "how it was going to be"..."Wait until you're married and save your arguing for the important things."

How right she was! Because our REAL expectations had nothing to do with mac and cheese, taco shells, or record albums (see note above, or google it!).

Without knowing it, he expected me to build him up, and I expected him to meet all my needs and make me feel secure. Which is fine, except we wanted that 24/7/365, no flaws, no verbal cues, no nothing.

No pressure there!

It took a HUGE crisis in our marriage to get us to see that only God can meet those needs. When we gave our expectations to Him, He made them more realistic, and He equipped us to fulfill one another's expectations more honestly and consistently.

I had a conversation with my daughter recently that brought this home. She told me she wanted to find "someone" and get married so she wouldn't be lonely anymore. As the wife of a bi-vocational pastor, I told her honestly, "Hon, I'm married to the same man for 23 years, and I still get lonely sometimes."

Then I explained to her how her spouse wouldn't be able to "fix" everything wrong in her life, or make everything all right. Only God could do that. Once she surrendered it all to Him, He would then find the right person for her, and together they would work to meet one another's needs God's way.

The little thing was SHOCKED to find out I could still be lonely! So was I! But it's true...sometimes we put too much on our spouse, or look to him/her for things we should look to God for. And we want to get it right, to make it work, and to gain the most we can from our marriages.

Which we can have, once they are surrendered to Him.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! Now, leave me a comment, and I'll pick a winner for a copy of "Generation NeXt Marriage" ( and I may throw in a copy of her parenting book as a bonus) on April 15th!

BUT..that's not all you can win!! Love Gen X Style! Share your story and WIN a dinner for TWO to the restaurant of your choice! ($50 maximum)
Tell us the story of how you and your spouse met. If you have photos, send those along, too! The winning story will be chosen at the end of the blog tour and will be posted on Tricia's GenX blog. So post YOUR story on YOUR blog, and get your friends to comment...the more comments, the greater your chance to win! Just click here to fill out the contest entry form!

To buy a copy of the book, click here.


Happy Reading!

Deena