Generation Next Marriage by Tricia Goyer

I didn't know what my generation was called until I read this book. From page 5 of Generation NeXt Marriage here's the breakdown:

GI: Born 1900s to 1920s
Silent: Born 1920s to 1940s
Boomer: Born 1940s to 1960s
Xer: Born 1960s to 1980s
Millennial: Born 1980s to 2000s

I am a GenXer.

Furthermore, Tricia gives more facts about GEN XERS:

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  Gen Xers consist of 41 million Americans born between 1961 and 1981.


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  Gen Xers are serious about life. When it comes to marriage we want to do it right.


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  Gen Xers are stressed out, we want to do it all... now.


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  Gen Xers love to volunteer, to give, to help, to make a difference!


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  Gen Xers are self-reliant, yet highly spiritual.


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  According to a recent George Barna study only 28 percent Gen Xers (ages 20-37) attend church , compared to 51 percent of Builders (58+).
  
  Tricia Goyer's Generation NeXt Marriage - The Couple's Guide to Keeping it Together addressed so much of what I go through every day. But to participate in this blog tour - I've got to bare my soul and take a chapter out of the book that really hit home with me.
  
  Long sigh here....
  
  Here I go.
  
  

Christy, born in 1975

married 10 years

Chapter 16: Dancing in the Sheets: Lovemaking.

I am the type of girl who will do all I can to help a coworker, a friend. I'll be there for my daughter. But when it comes to being a wife, I sometimes fall short.

When you're POPS - parents of a preschooler - time alone together has to be grabbed early in the morning or late at night. We have to give as much as we can of each other in quick snippets here and there. I feel guilty if my daughter's occupied in one room and my husband wants to steal a kiss in the other. And by the time bedtime for baby girl rolls around, after a long day for me at work, some days include going to church and running all over the world before going home, I'm dead tired. The last thing I feel is sexy and the only thing I want to do when I head to the bedroom is go to sleep!

Tricia suggests in her book some things to help those of us who are already pushed to the limit, not to ignore these intimate times, brief as they may be, between a husband and wife. Besides, what type of relationship our children see in us will have an impact on them and their future marriage.

1> Understand Passion.
2> Be Available.
3> Plan it.
4> Find Fulfillment.

I knew to do each one of these things, but it's so easy to hurry through life, running some race of which you can't see the finish line, and let those things that mean the most to us, come in last. My dear husband comes in last quite often.

But he is so patient. And he is always reminding me how much he loves me and seems to have a fire for me that hasn't gone out since we started dating nearly sixteen years ago.

Tricia's book helped me see I'm not the only woman out there who struggles. There are so many great chapters in this book that deal with balancing children, work and home, it's hard to list them all in one blog.

Each time I turned the page for a new chapter, Tricia related the chapter to some song from the 80s. Yes, I still sing along to these. Unforgettable lyrics where we're all searching for our soul mate. I am a Gen Xer. There's no way around it and I really don't want to hide it. But what I want to do is realize I don't have to do it all. I have priorities - priorities my husband reminds me he and my daughter are a part of every day!

Thanks Tricia! You reminded me I am not alone in this adventure of life, in this generation. We all have choices to make. We can have it all, but the way we go about it is what will lead to our success or our failure.

About the Author:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twelve books including From Dust and Ashes, My Life UnScripted, and the children's book, 10 Minutes to Showtime. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like Today's Christian Woman and Focus on the Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in the mountains of Montana.