Jennifer Smith of The Unveiled Wife blog has gotten around to writing The Unveiled Wife book.* If you’ve been following her blog for any amount of time you know that she has a heart for marriages and a desire to be truthful and transparent with her heavenly Father, her husband, and her audience.
The Unveiled Wife book is a written testimony in which Jennifer shares her struggles as a young wife and maturing Christian. She honestly discusses the barriers that stood between her and an intimate relationship with her husband, as well as obstacles that she allowed to hinder her relationship with God. While not every reader will relate to the larger surface issue in the book, an inability to be physically intimate with her husband, many (if not all) will be able to relate to her deeper spiritual turmoil. The words of this book provide hope for those straining to truly connect with their spouse and their heavenly Father.
Jennifer dives deep into the problems she faced in her marriage. In doing so she reveals the character issues that God was refining in her. Marriage forced her to deal with unmet and unrealistic expectations, loving someone who was unlovable, playing the “perfect” Christian, and her unwillingness to confess sins such as jealousy, resentment, and more. She also addresses her misguided notions about Christian performance, blessings and grace — all of which she believes would have never risen to the surface if she and her husband had not had to deal with matters relating to pornography, sexual identity, and physical intimacy.
The Unveiled Wife is a perfect example of how adversity reveals character. When trying times hit the the underlying problems — our character flaws — come to the surface and we must make a choice: focus on the adversity screaming to keep our attention or look to Jesus.
Jennifer boldly states, and I agree, that God is more concerned with our character than our comfort. He wants to mold and refine us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. This would not happen, however, if we never saw our flaws, our imperfections or our sins; if we never admitted that we are in the wrong and in need of repentance and salvation. I believe, just as Jennifer does, that God uses our marriages to teach us about ourselves and our need for Jesus Christ.
I think The Unveiled Wife is absolutely wonderful simply because Jennifer is open and honest about her sin, how she felt about it, and how she dealt (or refused to deal) with it. I also appreciate that this is an account of her sin. She doesn’t attempt to blame her husband for their marriage problems or direct attention to his wrong doing. No, instead she uses this book to testify to how God was dealing with her heart, the only heart she can truly see. The courage it takes to do this — to wholeheartedly say “God, I’m not perfect! Refine me! Change me, not my circumstance” — is courage that I long for. And it is a courage that all women need to seek and embrace as they learn to be “unveiled” with their husbands and more importantly, with their heavenly Father.
So, are you interested in reading The Unveiled Wife? You can pre-order a copy here* or enter my giveaway for a chance to win a free copy.
*This post contains affiliated links. Should you choose to make a purchase through one of these links I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support in this way.
2 comments
Would love to read this book! Thanks for the giveaway!
And the winner is… drum roll please… Britta W. of LA. Britta, be on the look for an email from me – kelli(at)quietlyreminded(dot)com. 🙂