A Fierce Love: One Woman’s Courageous Journey to Save Her Marriage

Shanks, owner of health food café Smallfolk in Dallas, Tex., courageously tells the story of how her 10-year marriage unraveled before coming back together in the end. Shanks, a Christian who admits to drifting away from her faith, draws parallels between her journey to reinvigorated faith and the death and rebirth of her marriage. She recounts the seemingly endless days and sleepless nights that followed her husband telling her that their marriage was a mistake and he wanted out. When Shanks found and read her husband’s diary, she felt a sliver of hope, as the words indubitably showed a passionate love for her. Afraid her husband would be upset that she read the diary without his permission, Shanks was relieved that her admission and apology opened up new avenues of communication. She reveals that 1 Corinthians 13 formed the basis for her “Love Filter,” a mental reminder not to react emotionally to her husband’s occasional fits of anger, but to speak with calm, deliberate purpose as she fought for their marriage. Shanks offers readers practical recommendations and loads of adapted biblical teachings for overcoming one’s evil impulses with good intentions. Shanks’s story will bring hope to readers in the darkest times of married life, pointing directly to God’s redemptive plan for remaking what has been broken. (June)