Deb’s Dozen: 12-Word Summary – When a couple promises, “I do,” they become Team Us: Marriage Together
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When a couple promises ‟I do,” they agree to more than just a shared last name, a joint bank account, and no more dateless nights. This husband and wife duo forms a new team. ‟Life together” becomes their mantra. Nothing can come between them. At least, that’s the plan.

But then real life sets in. With it come disappointments and frustrations. If the couple isn’t intentional in their day-to-day interactions, that once enthusiastic ‟we” can slowly revert to ‟you” and ‟me.” Before long, the couple’s left wondering what happened to their team spirit.

Team Us: Marriage Together offers couples practical ways to cultivate and strengthen unity in their marriages. Ashleigh Slater shares from her own marriage as she presents couples with realistic ideas on how to foster cooperation, deepen commitment, and exercise grace on a daily basis.1

Ashleigh, with dry witty asides by her husband, Ted, tells the whole truth about marriage – the struggle we all face day to day as we try to function with this “new being” in our household. We endeavor to subdue our “me-ness” to be an “us,” yet we forever find ourselves facing the truth that we’ve become self-centered yet again. It takes real effort to put the marriage ahead of our own needs – to consider the marriage more important than what we feel we need at that point in time. We learn to pick our battles – and let the small stuff go.

As Ashleigh so engagingly explains, we need to practice grace and forgiveness on a daily basis. Practicing grace – the concept of doing rather than receiving grace – affected me deeply. So many times I’ve let me take over and forgotten the us. I’ve held onto grudges instead of offering grace and forgiveness. And yet the times when I’ve followed Ashleigh’s advice, our marriage has grown and strengthened. Wise beyond her years of marriage (they’ve been married a little over 10 years), Ashleigh tells stories and teaches lessons that I’ve learned the hard way over my 31+ years of marriage.
If you’re married just a short time, thinking about getting married, or married for the long term, you’ll enjoy Ashleigh’s book. I highly recommend reading it and putting it into practice. I sure will!

I was given a copy of this book by Moody Publishers for my unbiased review.
1. Back cover copy from Team Us.