A Lasting Love

This gorgeous picture-book meditation on loss and family love is a useful tool for children navigating a first experience with death. When a family member or another loved one becomes ill, one of the scariest aspects of their sickness is the way they may change, both physically and in spirit. The feeling of loss can come so early as the person becomes more difficult to recognize. It's a hard thing for anyone to understand, and especially so for a child. This book offers a helpful visualization of a sick person's essence as a friendly creature who remains strong and warm, even as the illness progresses. The creature is always around and never tries to cheer the child up, but only serves to keep them company. Caroline Wright and Willow Heath clearly understand that, like the creature, a book cannot "fix" a painful situation or even make it a little better. Instead they simply reflect the pain of loss back to the reader and help them understand that they are not alone.

The most important thing in life is the feeling of love inside and around you. But we are all bound to face problems from time to time in a committed relationship. Theorists Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, reveal what saps vitality from long-term relationships and what you can do to make vitality surge again.

In Love Cycles, veteran couples therapist Linda Carroll presents a groundbreaking model of the five natural stages of romantic relationships — the Merge, Doubt and Denial, Disillusionment, Decision, and Wholehearted Love — and a guide for navigating through them toward lasting love. Love Cycles helps readers understand where they are in the cycle of their relationship and provides a clear strategy for how to stay happy and committed, even in difficult times.

Most couples — because they watch so many of their peers divorce and are themselves the products of failed marriages — don't have many successful long-term-relationship role models. Parenting and communication issues are perennial, while some challenges, like increasingly 24-7 work lives and economic hardships, mark the current decade. Despite all this, psychotherapist and clinical social worker Marcia Naomi Berger asserts that most couples can make love last — they just need to learn how. Berger answers this need with a deceptively simple prescription: have an interruption-free thirty-minute (or even shorter) meeting each week and follow an agenda that includes the kind of appreciation and planning for fun that foster intimacy and pave the way for collaborative conflict resolution. Berger has refined these techniques while working with hundreds of couples — with results that are both practical and profound.

Lasting Love is a journey of creating our own relationships. Singularly, we create from a checklist, then roles perceived and imposed. Dually, we create from agreements, from roles agreed to and then carried out and enforced. Ultimately, we strive to create from possibility, a flexible reach from core POSSIBLE that allows us to see and relate to the true person, instead of the constructed version of them we have previously chosen. When we relate to the true person, we have a chance at Lasting Love.

The national bestselling book Why Him? Why Her? shows how a better understanding of who you are will help you find and keep the love you want Why do you fall in love with one person rather than another? In this fascinating and informative book, Helen Fisher, one of the world's leading experts on romantic love, unlocks the hidden code of desire and attachment. Each of us, it turns out, primarily expresses one of four broad personality types—Explorer, Builder, Director, or Negotiator—and each of these types is governed by different chemical systems in the brain. Driven by this biology, we are attracted to partners who both mirror and complement our own personality type. Until now the search for love has been blind, but Fisher pulls back the curtain and reveals how we unconsciously go about finding the right match. Drawing on her unique study of 40,000 men and women, she explores each personality type in detail and shows you how to identify your own type. Then she explains why some types match up well, whereas others are problematic. (Note to Explorers: be prepared for a wild ride when you hitch your star to a fellow Explorer!) Ultimately, Fisher's investigation into the complex nature of romance and attachment leads to astonishing new insights into the essence of dating, love, and marriage. Based on entirely new research—including a detailed questionnaire completed by seven million people in thirty-three countries—Why Him? Why Her? will change your understanding of why you love him (or her) and help you use nature's chemistry to find and keep your life partner.

Everyone wants a marriage that will last a lifetime, and now Dr. Gary and Barbara Rosberg, have disclosed six secrets that will not only help you create the marriage you've always dreamed of, but will create a marriage that will last a lifetime. This revised and updated repackage of the Gold Medallion-winning Divorce-Proof Your Marriage walks couples through the six loves (forgiving, serving, persevering, guarding, celebrating, and renewing) that can effectively shield their marriage from the ravages of disappointment, discouragement, distance, disconnect, discord, and emotional divorce.

This is a must and essential book to have - "Le Meilleur" (the best). There is power in the words and gestures of Bernardo. It is impossible to read his work without being moved. He pours himself out before you and in your own heart you experience immediate contact and warmth. He transports you to a purer region, from which dogmas and mysteries descend. He loosened his words like arrows from the bow and his whole heart seems to fly with them. The pathetic, the profound, the sublime are side by side with the simple and the ordinary. What is most divine in the heart of a man cannot be expressed in writing. Yet this writer did. It has depth; it convicts. It causes one to re-evaluate oneself. Yet, dira la verite est beate (to tell the truth is beautiful). -Jean Paul (Screenwrite, Nice, France) A very thought provoking book to say the least. As Bernardo Leonard points out with sometimes painful clarity, there is no greater power on earth than love. The merging of earthly Love and theological support of that Love is accomplished without undue and unneccessary presure to "convert". Instead, the pressure exerted upon the reader is to "think"; hence thought provoking. As much as I tried to disagree with him on certain issues of forgiveness, I knew in my heart that Bernardo was right. We can fool some of the people some of the time, fool all of the people all of the time, but we can never fool ourselves at any time. When you know the truth in your heart, you know the truth. Period. To err is human; to forgive is divine. So much of humanity is so far removed from divine; reading and digesting this book will bring them closer. The reader can identify with each of Bernardo's Love filled and Love driven chapters, because every human being is in search of ONE thing, and only one thing --- LOVE. Some run the race claiming it's money or fame they are after; others claim this and still others claim that. Every one of us understands that the reason we lives is to Love and be Loved. Thank you Bernardo for putting these truths to paper. -Stan Brushwood (Tucson, Arizona)

An essential follow-up to their New York Times bestselling book, A Love Letter Life, Jeremy and Audrey Roloff introduce Creative Love, a timeless relationship book for couples that offers practical advice for creating a fun, fulfilling, and forever love story. You may know the Roloffs from the television show Little People, Big World, their Behind the Scenes podcast, or following their growing family online. The Roloffs are passionate about encouraging healthy, life-giving relationships. They share relationship advice from a place of humility as they continually learn what it means to love one another creatively, intentionally, and faithfully, while pursuing a godly marriage. Focusing on dating and marriage through the lens of faith and creativity, Creative Love provides insights on the following topics: Communicating in ways that grow your love Adventuring together in every season Preventing and resolving conflict in creative ways Making traditions and commemorating meaningful moments Giving unique gifts that say, "I see you" Establishing values and dreaming together Pursing God's design for love and marriage And more! Whether you are beginning a new dating relationship, are recently engaged, or have been married for decades, Creative Love is inspiring for any stage of a romantic relationship. This book: Shares the Roloffs' honest struggles, best relationship practices, and steps to making an unbreakable bond Provides a "Get Creative" challenge in each chapter to help you put the ideas into action Features a beautiful, romantic design and stunning photography, including some never-seen-before photos from the Roloffs' personal collection Includes conversation starters and idea lists for going on dates, giving gifts, and celebrating special moments Has a presentation page to make gift-giving easy Is a perfect gift for yourself--or your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse--for Valentine's Day, engagement parties, weddings, or anniversaries Join the Roloffs as they share real-life stories that invite you into meaningful conversations, love-strengthening practices, and creative ways to live the love story you'd want read back to you one day!

Gary Smalley is one of the world's foremost speakers and experts on love and relationships. His gift for helping couples create more meaningful communication and deeper understanding so that they can establish an unwavering bond is the inspiration behind Secrets to Lasting Love, the culmination of Smalley's decades of work. In it he outlines the three essential skills that move couples to the highest levels of intimacy: Respect your spouse for all of his or her individual qualities and differences from you. Communicate with each other in a way that moves conversations into deeper realms of understanding. Renew and recharge your spouse emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually -- constantly. It is not easy to recognize and then apply these skills. But Secrets to Lasting Love shows everyone how to do just that, so they can reach what Smalley calls the fifth, or ultimate, level of intimacy -- where there's a marital bond strong enough to withstand the inevitable highs and lows of life. With Gary Smalley, you will have the tools to create a heightened sense of commitment that will allow you to reach your spouse's heart and spirit.