Even though I'm not married and have no immediate plans to be, I thought this might be a good book to read. I was right. At first, the authors, Justin and Trisha, seemed rather shallow and mediocre, and they did struggle in their marriage a lot. However, some of their advice is applicable even to single people, for our relationships with God and others. For instance, the everyday choices we make, whether they are selfish or sacrificial, and putting God first. There were many practical and good tips. No doubt it would be even more helpful for married couples to read. There were questions at the end of each chapter for those who are married to apply to themselves.

Caveat: some of the material in the book may not be to your liking to read about, especially if you're a younger single person, but everything was handed quite carefully.

Here are a few quotes which were helpful to me:

'We went from "I love you so much; how can I serve you?" to "If you loved me, then you would do this for me."'

'In order to move beyond ordinary, we have to be intentional. We have an enemy who is intentionally coming against our marriage relationships. We won't drift into extraordinary; we will have to fight for it.'

'Distorting truth and compromising truth often seems innocent and harmless, but it always comes with a price.'

'When we start expecting our spouses' words, behavior, or choices to fill parts of our hearts that only God can fill, we set ourselves up for ordinary marriages.'

'But much like the Israelites, we can easily stop focusing on the presence of God and focus instead on the presents of God.'

'The crossroads that all of us stand at every day is do I choose ordinary again today, or do I choose extraordinary?'

'Bitterness is like picking up a stone to throw and holding on to it so you'll have ammunition the next time you're wounded. We take our stones, hold them tight, and find comfort in them. But if we dwell in bitterness long enough, resentment is sure to follow.'

'I had tried to escape the crushing of teeth and the breaking of bones and in the process had also forgone the faithfulness and mercies and salvation and compassion of God.'

'When we do not live in the fullness of God's love, we are incapable of loving others fully.'

'Wherever sin lives, intimacy dies. That is true in your relationship with God, and it is true in your marriage. But the good news is that wherever intimacy lives, sin dies.'

'We sometimes confuse discipline with a lack of grace, but discipline is an extension of grace.'

As you read my review, keep in mind that I like Justin & Trisha's blog and have been awaiting their book with anticipation.
This is another marriage book that asserts that you must be in perfect relationship with God to have a worthwhile marriage. It seems completely unreasonable to me to claim that only Christians can get marriage "right." There is pretty much NO other advice in the book other than the selflessness associated with devotion to God.

I just couldn't stay invested in this book. I loved reading the story of their marriage, but the parts where they described how to improve your own marriage just couldn't hold my interest. Maybe I will come back to it at another time.

An interesting read.

Beyond Ordinary is an excellent "marriage book". The authors share the story of their marriage journey through ministry and adultery to an extraordinary relationship. I actually found myself reading to find out what happens in their story and had to remind myself to think of personal application. I liked that each chapter shared more of their story, as well as a Biblical story and insights into how to move into an extraordinary covenant relationship. Obviously this would be an excellent book for a couple struggling in the aftermath of adultery or a similar betrayal, but it is also great for anyone at any level. As the authors say, we often settle for ordinary, not realizing we could have so much more. Since the authors take turns writing individually as well as together, one gets insight into how the opposite sex thinks and much of their story struck a chord with me. I appreciated as well how the authors are clear that one's personal relationship with Christ must be first and foremost in importance. I recommend this book for any couple or even an engaged couple to read and discuss how to implement these ideas from the start.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

combo autobiography and self help, the authors' honesty about their own marriage issues are retold in an effort to help the reader

This book isn't really what I expected: it's basically an autobiography of this couple's marriage, disenchantment, affair and separation, and subsequent restoration. However, it includes a lot of reflections and observations along the way, that are tailored to fit anyone's situation. There is a lot of value in cautionary tales, as long as they're recognized as such, and this one is presented well. I didn't think it had a lot of practical advice, though: it's just observations and teachings from their life experience. However, it did give me a lot to think about, and I'm glad I read it. I would recommend it to any married Christian couple to go through. It reads fast.

My complaints:
The affair itself was left jarringly unexplained. They're unhappy with their marriage, and then suddenly he's admitting to an affair, and it confused me. I mean, you can drift into a lot of things in marriage without really paying attention, but in order to have an affair at some point in there you're not drifting anymore and you're actively choosing to do something you know is wrong. I would've preferred to know how that happened, and what the warning signs were. But since it's all happened so recently, maybe they can't share that part yet.
I also felt like most of the advice is the standard unhelpful, impractical Christian rhetoric (yes, I know about "surrendering"; after you've "surrendered" a few times, what does that even mean anymore?). It was good to make me think about things in my own life, but I don't think I heard anything I haven't heard before, using different words.
The guy sounds like kind of a mess. Pretty much everything in the story seemed like his fault, I think.

Read my full thoughts on Read. Write. Repeat.

"Justin and Trisha Davis use their story throughout Beyond Ordinary to explore various aspects of marriage. The book can be classified as a cautionary tale of "do as I say, not as I do." The Davis's marriage has been marked by serious conflict, betrayal, and mistrust....They held nothing back. Each chapter addresses a specific attribute of marriage and how to take it "beyond ordinary." They tell their own story over the course of these chapters, opening with their history and moving into a section on that topic's biblical support. The book aims to allow readers to learn from the Davis's mistakes and save their marriages before its too late."

3.5 stars for the first half, 4.5 stars for the second half.

Didn't get to finish this book, but it was good what I read. I would like to eventually finish it.