Audible Listening: 8 hrs 28 minutes

First, before reviewing, "Marriage on the Rock" by Jimmy Evans,  I want to take you on our own marriage  journey filled with love, laughter, and loss.

When I was praying to get married, I was looking for a wife who loved Jesus more than me. My precious wife Chandraleela also had the same desire that she would marry a husband who loved Jesus more than her.

So during our courting days, she would always send me Bible verses to encourage me and so did I. After getting married, whether we were continents apart or home together, we would ask each other and share what we learned from God's Word for that day in our quiet times with the Lord.

Leela even loved when I would share what I learned from my devotional time with others. One day I was so touched when she told me that she did not mind if I did not spend time with her as long as I shared the devotional times with others.  She exhorted me to share the devotionals reminding me that they reach a lot of people. She point blank asked me, ‘Why are you not sharing your devotional studies anymore?’

My former Pastor Hugo would say that he wished that our sharing of what we learned in our Quiet Times with the Lord would continue throughout our marriage years. Sadly, in our 10+ years of marriage, even though we have had Quiet Times almost everyday, we have not shared with each other everyday. The days we did share, it was such a blessing even now.

One day I was doing an inductive Bible study with my wife that even our daughters Evangeline (5) and Esther (8) at the time got into it. Recently, Evangeline asked me if we could have a Bible study like that again.

The more our hearts and minds turned towards Christ, the more our marriage has been able to be sustained especially through the turbulent storms of life.

Has it been an easy marriage?

Not a bit.

It has been plagued with personality issues, financial issues, in-law issues, career issus, etc

Have we had doubts if we made the right decision at times?

Sadly, yeah but when we remember the Lord brought us together in holy matrimony before him, we strive to be all that the Lord Jesus wants our marriage to be. It has not been easy but through the Word of God and the counsel of pastors our love for each other grows each day.

I still remember Pastor Hugo telling me that the more you love your wife, the more beautiful she becomes to you. How true this is even to this day for me after 10+ years of marriage. I remember how Pastor Josh has reminded me to ‘Listen, Listen, Listen’ to your wife.   

During courting days, things looked so peachy that we got married but after marriage we learned things about each other that hurt us and made us sad. My sweet Leela’s expectations of me were shattered when she found out what a short tempered person I can be and what a hoarder I was of things.

It is only through our dependence on Jesus Christ and the Word of God that has sustained us through our marriage as we try to love each other deeply. It has not been easy but our happy times of marriage have outweighed our sad times to a ratio of 8:2. My wife just told me today that our marriage could have been 100% happiness if it were not for my short temper so she was giving it an 80% happiness.

What we strive to do is build our marriage on the Rock every single day. 

We have some great memories in our 10+ years of marriage but our favorite memories are our times together enjoying each other alone, with our children, and families as we seek Christ daily.

To that end both of us take as many pictures of us together as possible as memories.

Everytime we have watched Marriage Today ministries, we have loved it.

What is your marriage based on? 

Is it a marriage based on convenience?

Is it a marriage based on wealth?

Is it a marriage based on children?

Is it a marriage based on love?

Is it a marriage based on commitment?

Is it a marriage based on trust?

Is it a marriage based on the Rock?

There are 7 questions you have been asked but only your affirmative answer to one of the questions will give you a fulfilling marriage.

Which one do you think it is?

To that end, I have finished the book ‘Marriage on the Rock’ twice. My precious Leela has finished parts of the book.

So far, of all the marriage books I have finished, ‘Marriage on the Rock’ is one of the best books I have finished. It was so good that I finished it more than 2 times. In it’s 332 pages, it addresses topics such as finding the Rock, secret of a solid marriage, the law of priority, the law of pursuit, the law of possession, the law of purity, God’s blueprint for marital bliss, the destructive husband, four kinds of destructive husbands, how to understand and meet your wife’s needs, the destructive wife, four kinds of destructive wives, how to understand and meet your husband’s needs, when you are building alone, four principles for building alone, six essential skills for maximum pleasure, skills for communication, skills for financial success, skills for successful parenting, skills for sexual pleasure, skills for in-law relations, skills for remarriage and blended families.

It is a book that you cannot put down once you start reading it. The best part of the book is its emphasis on Biblical scripture and making our marriage stand on the Rock of Jesus Christ through it’s different topics.