Eric LudyBesprekingen

In their most popular book, bestselling authors Eric and Leslie Ludy challenge singles to take a fresh approach to relationships in a culture where love has been replaced by cheap sensual passion. When God Writes Your Love Story shows that God's way to true love brings fulfillment and romance in its purest, richest, and most satisfying form. This new edition includes an extra chapter from Leslie Ludy about the surprises of life after marriage!

Eric and Leslie Ludy want to offer an exciting vision of hope, proving that the Author of romance is alive and well and that true and lasting love can become a reality. Using the “four secrets to an amazing love story,” Eric and Leslie present a Christ-centered approach to building a relationship that will stand the test of time.

Whether or not you are in a serious relationship, now is the time to lay the foundation for a lifelong romance. When God Writes Your Love Story will show you how. With the humor and heart that have made them so popular among young readers, Eric and Leslie showcase the extraordinary beauty of a God-scripted romance and the secrets to an amazing love story that can stand the tests of time. This revitalized edition of their best-selling book is loaded with new extras and even more powerful, practical advice that bolsters their classic message on dating, romance, sexuality, and what it means to follow God rather than formulas.

Eric and Leslie Ludy write about how the Lord showed them what prayer really is: a pasionate communion with God. A passionate communion. Not just passion and emotion, and not just writing up a list of wants and needs to ask God about. They detail prayer that the evangelical world today does not know. It's the kind of prayer that the men and women of past church history demonstrated. The people who spent hours on their knees pleading for the souls of others before the Throne of Grace.

Eric writes with passion, the passion given him by a powerful God through the power of prayer. The kind of prayer that doesn't sit back and nonchalantly watch God "allow" things to happen, but the kind of prayer that fights the battle against the spiritual powers of Satan. I love how this book takes many of the Old Testament characters (like David and Joab) and really details the lives of these men. Eric mentions the 37 men who were considered David's Mighties. The men who never gave in to the enemy, who never yielded ground, who would not turn from their commander, and who dared to do the reckless in God's strength. Only 37 of them in the thousands that numbered David's armies, yet they were some of his closest confidants, and they knew how to fight.

Leslie gives three key ingredients for prayer:
1. Praying God-prayers. Praying how God wants us and commands us to pray. Not just how we think or feel that we should.
2. Praying with complete confidence (aka--faith). Doubt, suspicion, fear, and hesitancy are faith-killers. Remember it takes faith as big (or small ;) as a grain of mustard seed to move mountains--except that this culture doesn't exactly expect prayer to work miracles.
3. Praying until the answer comes. This, too, takes faith. And perseverence and tenacity. It takes spiritual fortitude to keep asking when we don't see anything happening. Just because we don't think we see anything changing, doesn't mean that God isn't working. And sometimes your prayers aren't meant to change your circumstances or change the intesity of the battle. Your prayers might be what is necessary to change you.

Like Jacob wrestled with God...

"Most of us have never even come to Peniel. We do our praying and our Christian thing in our own cunning and strength. But Peniel is the place where spiritual things truly get done. It's the place of wrestling, and that indimidates many of us. It's the place of holding on until the day breaks, until the victory is achieved--and that sounds tiresome. But this is the great secret to answered prayer." (Leslie Ludy)

Prayer also takes self-examination, as Leslie and Eric speak of. They knew they could not honestly face a holy God with known sin in their life, and as the Lord brought sin to their attention, they repented. Keeping a clear conscience between you and God is vital in a Christian's prayer life. As the authors put it, our Lord is a fearless Commander who gives no quarter to sin, and if we're going to be named among the mighty prayer warriors then we must be willing--no, not just willing, but desirious--for God's spiritual purging of our lives.

The Ludy's also write about the power of prayer in our physical lives. It is not uncommon for them to spend hours praying through the night. Sometimes praying instead of sleeping. You would expect this to tired them physically and mentally, but prayer fuels their bodies as well as their minds and they would not give in until they were certain of victory through prayer. The Lord blessed them for their perseverance and gave them strength above and beyond what they thougth they had. They gave no ground to their flesh, and the weapon of prayer yielded a mighty victory.

This is one of the best books about marriage and the importance of making a relationship last I’ve ever read. It is well written and easy to read. I like how the author provides perspectives from both man and women to make the marriage last, complete with copious scriptural references. They guide you through how to make each other a priority, how to make a relationship last and how to make the most of your time together. This book is perfectly designed for everyone who wants to make their marriage lasts forever. This book is very helpful and I’m sure that you are going to love this book.

Good, but felt incomplete – where was the last half of their love story? For an extended review, see here.

The first 90 days of marriage are often the toughest, as both of you bring your own set of expectations into the mix, and you have to learn to do things as a team, instead of just however you’ve always done them.

This book goes through several facets of marriage — teamwork, dealing with trials, creating a sanctuary in your home, etc. — and offers very practical advice (complete with lists) for how to tackle each of them in a selfless and godly way.

I especially liked the chapter on creating a sanctuary — sacred space in your home, and sacred time — as the authors constantly remind that you don’t have to have a ton of money, or a lot of space to make your home a “sanctuary”; you just need a little imagination and creativity. That is one of the things that I’ve often struggled with in my own marriage — how to make my home feel welcoming and relaxing, despite not having a ton of cash to make it (as I heard it put the other day…) “Pinterest perfect“.

As usual, with the books written by this husband & wife duo, there are sections written by Eric, and sections written by Leslie, and each gives their unique perspective on the topics at hand. I like their way of writing, as it’s very down-to-earth, but you can tell that they have a great marriage, and that they really put a lot of effort into making it work for both of them, equally.

Definitely a good book. Recommended.

ETA: This book is also NOT just for those who are "newly married"... I've been married for 13 years, and found the book to be extremely helpful, offering new insights on how to handle things, and giving me insights into other things I hadn't thought of!

Every little girl dreams of a happily-ever-after with a man who will love her dearly, and cherish her, and adore her. And, I don’t know for sure, but I think maybe every little boy dreams of one day being a girl’s Prince Charming, or knight in shining armor.

But, much as we’re raised on the Disney idea of a fairy-tale ending, most of us stop believing in those somewhere around our teens, and believe that it’s all just make-believe.

The Ludys believe, though, that the fairy-tale romance is, in fact, possible… when you let God write your love story.

This book tells a bit of Eric & Leslie’s story, and shows practical ways that you can live so as to find your very own God-written love story. The chapters alternate between Leslie & Eric writing, and there are parts aimed at the guys, and parts aimed at the gals.

I read this book within 24 hours of having received it — it’s an easy read. But, it’s oh-so-good. I can’t recommend this book enough, as it’s full of hope. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on from Leslie Ludy, lately (including her “Set-Apart Girl” website & magazine archives: http://www.setapartgirl.com), and I just love this idea. I’m already married, so it only applies to me so far as how to improve my marriage, but I am definitely going to be teaching my children about how to let God have the pen, so that He can write their love stories.

My husband and I were married before we were believers, and our relationship very much followed the pattern of a worldly romance. It was only after becoming born-again that we were captivated by the vision of romances conducted in accordance with God’s will.

Rather than seeing God’s limitations on expressions of physical and emotional intimacy we could now see His guidelines as protections for the beautiful, pure love that could spring from a life fully dedicated to Him; a life devoted to staying faithful to one future spouse.

Eric and Leslie Ludy beautifully express this “sweeter song” that God has in mind for His children in When God Writes Your Love Story. Without becoming bound to outward forms and stifling legalities, the couple holds firmly to a high goal of emotional and physical purity while waiting for God to work creatively to write a unique love story just for you!

This vision is unfailingly positive and inspiring as the Ludys weave together their own personal journey towards marriage with the insights, principles, and applications that they learned along the way. Alternating between a light-hearted, self-deprecating writing style and deadly serious thoughts about fully dedicating your life to Christ, the Ludys are bang on (in my opinion) in their conclusions.

My husband and I have been married for nine years this fall, but I plan on passing this book along to our daughters as they grow. I can appreciate that waiting for God’s best can be SO difficult when the world continually trumpets its own plan; this book can be a faithful guide through those trying times.

Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com

I loved this book. It gives such meaning to a Christ centered wedding. The CD and the words to the songs that Eric and Leslie Ludy have included with their book have such meaning. Each part of the wedding ceremony is given Christ centered meaning in this book and is so important in the meaning of the convenant that a man and woman declare before God. Thank you Eric and Leslie for putting God back into the wedding ceremony! It is a lovely wedding gift .

Classic love story of how God intervenes in the lives of everyday Christians. Lots of motivation for purity of all kinds.

I have reason to believe that my husband is the boy who broke up with Leslie "on the phone" shortly before her epiphany that God has something better for her (the first thing you read in the book). I'll just say that this story is remembered very, very, very, very differently by others who were there. I only believe it is my spouse she is writing about because he was her last "public school" boyfriend before she met Eric. There are other misreprestations of her high school life in the book. The blatant falsehood in her story, for me, calls into question the rest of her story, if not her entire ministry.

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