By Janel Esplin
John Bytheway enlisted the help of his wife Kimberly to create a guide for newlyweds in his latest addition to the “What I Wish I’d Known” series.
Having been married for five years, John and Kimberly said they wanted to give young couples tools, ideas and true principles that will help their first year of marriage go more smoothly.
“What We Wish We’d Known When We Were Newlyweds” is the sixth of his best-selling series of books.
“We learned by trial and error. If we would have known what we know now, it would have been a lot easier,” Bytheway said.
Before actually writing the book, John and Kimberly said they spent close to seven months just talking about it and reading other books on marriage.
Once they started writing, he said it only took them two months to finish it.
In the book, they explore such things as expectations, communication, appreciation, commitment and finances.
“Most people spend a lot of time planning their wedding, and then leave the marriage up to chance. That’s backwards. Successful marriages don’t happen by accident; they take planning and talking and effort,” John said.
Although the Bytheways said there is nothing really new to say about how to have a happy marriage, they said they hope to show readers ways to apply time-tested principles by sharing their own personal experiences and other examples.
The concluding chapter, “Keeping Christ in Your Marriage,” is the pinnacle chapter, the Bytheways said.
They said the most important thing a young couple can do is get the Lord involved in their marriage.
“You have to be meek, humble and willing to talk or communication simply won’t work,” Bytheway said.
He said if a person feels his or her spouse is approachable, and both are completely committed to the marriage, the couple is able to work through anything.
The Bytheways said they hope “What We Wish We’d Known When We Were Newlyweds” will help take some of the guesswork out of adjusting to the first year and put a couple on the path toward lasting forever.
