Acknowledgments

This book could not have been completed without the help of my family, friends, and colleagues.

Thank you to my husband, Greg, for being a constant source of encouragement. You have been such an amazing gift from God. You constantly surprise me with the generosity, compassion, and love that you offer to me and our family.

Thank you to my children —Taylor, Murphy, Garrison, and Annie —who have been enormously patient with me during the long process of writing and rewriting this book. It is such an honor to be your mother. You have brought more meaning, excitement, and joy to my life than I ever knew was possible.

Thank you to my fabulous editors at Focus on the Family, Marianne Hering and Jennifer Lonas. You have helped bring this project to a whole new level. You both are amazing editors and have such wisdom to offer. It has been a joy to work with you.

Thank you to my friend and collaborator, Lisa Frieden. Truly, God allowed our paths to cross for “such a time as this.” I know that you saved many of my brain cells throughout this process as you handled so many of the details. Thank you for doing this not just as another job, but as a ministry that you engaged with wholeheartedly.

Thank you to many at Focus on the Family, especially within the Marriage and Family Formation Division. Thank you for speaking into this project.

Thank you, Focus, for sharing my passion to help strengthen marriages and for continuing to fight for healthy families.

And, finally, thank you to the teams at Focus on the Family and Tyndale Publishing who have assisted with copyediting, internal design and layout, cover design, marketing, and the numerous details that are required to bring this book to press.