Juana writes from her heart as she exposes her journey of marriage brokenness and reconciliation, giving readers hope for the future and motivation to embrace true intimacy with God. This story is captivating because Juana details her thoughts and emotions which led her to walk away from her marriage for a time, thoughts and emotions that many wives encounter daily. Her honesty and transparency is a rare treasure, allowing others the chance to relate and not feel so alone in marital struggles. Juana’s words are full of life-giving encouragement, just the kind of inspiration couples desperately need today. – Jennifer Smith, Author of The Unveiled Wife and Wife After God
I had the privilege of endorsing Choosing Him All Over Again by Juana Mikels. The first thing I noticed was the title and the power of relatability with women all around the world. I think many marriages face hardships that lead to either separation or divorce, as well as the choice to reconcile.
Juana walks the reader through her marriage story and transparently shares her struggles as a wife. She opens up about leaving her husband and wanting to start a new life without him…and then her journey with God and how He leads her to a desire of choosing her husband all over again.
The tragedy is that although Juana’s heart came back to her husband, the pain he experienced in her leaving him severely severed his willingness to embrace her when she chose to come back home.
In this book, you will see the reality of marriage and the reality of how our hearts try to navigate all the feelings that come flooding with such an intimate relationship. You will also receive an earthly picture of God’s incredible grace.
Juana takes her time to teach and explain God’s love story and the mystery marriage is as it reflects God’s love story!
What I Got Out Of It:
I connected with the way Juana pours her heart out onto the pages right away. She exemplifies what it means to be an unveiled wife as she humbly admits the heart issues she struggled with as a wife and how those things influenced her choices and her love for her husband.
My understanding of how my actions will deeply affect my husband grew, as well as my understanding of how much God desires marriage to thrive. Even though I knew these things going into the book, they were confirmed and they reminded me how important they are for me as a wife to be aware of.
Instead of being marked with frowns, frets, unattractiveness, dullness, complaints, whines, worries, and strife, I pray that God will give me a simple, youthful spirit and joyfulness as I move toward old age here on earth. I cannot stop the aging process of my body, but there is nothing to keep my spirit from being young!” – Juana Mikels (Page 268)
I appreciated Juana adding this in her book, because it speaks to the heart of every woman. We are all seeking to be young and beautiful, but how often do we get caught up in seeking our own ways of doing this instead of seeking God to fill us with a pure joy that will keep us youthful? I don’t want to be a wife that worries, frets, complains or is dull. I want to have a spirit of youthfulness that comes from the living water! God Himself!
The Lord of the universe has written a love letter to you and me called the Bible, to woo us into a loving relationship with Him through Christ. Our love for Him is to be first in our life, even above our closest human relationships.” – Juana Mikels (Page 281)
In Chapter 17, Reflections On Marriage, Juana opens up by sharing,
Remember that, when I left my husband, I began a quest to find my true soul mate? I wanted to chase romance, thinking the grass was greener with someone else. Why wouldn’t I change what I could, to be spared living my entire life only to learn too late that I could have changed it for the better, long before? ( Page 291)
Looking back, I can see that it was only by God’s grace that I did not become entangled with someone else. This “find my one true soul mate” mentality was a common thread among a number of the individuals I interviewed for this book – and it ultimately helped destroy their marriages.” (Page 292)
Juana then continues to dive into who our soul mate is and who our soul’s enemy is!
Lastly, I want to point out that this resource is awesome for every wife because in Chapter 20 it includes a detailed list of 11 ways to refresh your marriage daily! I don’t want to share them all here because I want you to read through this book for yourself…but here are a few that I loved:
2. I will not bring up my husband’s past failures today.
10. I will make some comment today which points to God’s wonderful tomorrow.
11. I will pray for my husband before the day ends.
I love hearing other people’s stories and the hardships they faced, especially overcame, because it helps me navigate my marriage.
I would recommend this book to any couple, but specifically those who are or have been challenged with separation or divorce.
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