Book Drawing: “Shaving Off His Mane” by Dana Rausch

Would you like to have a happier marriage? Do you sometimes feel confused about why your reactions toward your husband seem to discourage him rather than encourage him? Do you sometimes think you don’t understand him at all? If Dana Rausch’s book Shaving Off His Mane: Overcoming the Habit of Devaluing Your Husband had been available early in our marriage, we would have had a happier start and foundation.

That’s why I”m so excited to acquaint you with her book through a Book Drawing! Keep reading to be blessed by the excerpt from her book and then find out how you can enter the drawing and possibly win her book. If you don’t want to wait to gain from her book, buy it now HERE. UPDATE: The drawing is finished. Julie is the winner. Congratulations, Julie!

I Didn’t Know I was Devaluing My Husband

by Dana Rausch

Do you believe your husband’s expectations of you are unrealistic? Perhaps you didn’t measure up, so you gave up. Or did your faulty belief system place an unattainable standard on yourself or your husband as you failed to realize how much your actions undermined your marriage?

Proverbs 14:1 says, “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” Subconsciously I tore down my marriage. My self-sufficiency chipped away at the foundation until it started to crumble. As that became clear, I realized I had the destructive habit of devaluing Don, which had frightening and widespread collateral damage. Not only does this destroy a marriage, but the ripple effect stretches from the husband and wife to the children (and their children), to other family members, and beyond.

When we devalue someone, we degrade, alter, or cheapen that person. I didn’t know I was devaluing Don by putting him down or embarrassing him in front of others. I used sarcasm to try to come off as funny, but Don wasn’t laughing. When I needed something done, I went to my dad instead of my husband. Often, my family and friends were more important to me than he was. And I took advantage of his weaknesses.

The LIon’s Mane

Devaluing our husbands is like shaving off a lion’s mane. A lion is known by his mane. It’s the distinguishing factor between him and a lioness. The mane gives him courage, protects him from adversaries, and establishes his authority. It makes him who he is. If you shave off a lion’s mane, you alter, degrade, and diminish him. We ultimately do the same when we devalue our husbands. We changed who they are meant to be, and this results in brokenness. It causes broken homes, broken kids, and broken hearts.

This book is written for wives who want positive change in their marriages. It will equip you to overcome the habits of shaving off your husband’s mane. We’ll explore various ways we wives use the razor. Our words, looking back, attitudes, finances, and intimacy are just a few. For each example, we will discuss one wife in the Bible who attempted to devalue her husband and another who chose to build hers up.

Don and I were unprepared for the battle before us when we married in 1980. We brought with us so much baggage of old wounds, unrealistic expectations, and secrets. He came into the marriage a humble lion but had no idea he had just married a wild lioness who would challenge him constantly, trying to steal his role. The razor sat on my bedside table or in my purse so I could pull it out at any given time to shave Don’s mane. This book is our journey through the needless conflicts of those years.

Today, I’m thankful that Don displays his mighty mane with dignity, and I have become a powerful lioness. The razor no longer exists, and the turnaround that has taken place in our marriage is nothing less than a miracle.

Walk with me through the jungle of the world’s misconception of marriage.

Here are four examination questions:

• Have you shaved off your husband’s mane? Why or why not?
• In what ways have you devalued your husband?
• Do you want change in your marriage? Why or why not?
• What can you ask God to change?

Thank you, Dana, for sharing these hope-inspired thoughts. I know your book will be used greatly by the Lord.

TO MY READERS: enter your name into the drawing by making a comment on this blog post. To qualify, you must have a USA mailing address. The drawing ends Thursday evening, May 16, 2024. UPDATE: The drawing is finished. Julie is the winner. Congratulations, Julie!

Dana Rausch is a speaker, women’s ministry leader, event planner, and Bible study facilitator with thirty-two years experience in church work, including as an administrative assistant to a lead pastor. She and her husband were junior-high leaders for several years. Married for forty-three years, she is the mother of three adult children, and grandmother of eight. She enjoys reading, writing, boating, and attending Christian women’s leadership and writers’ conferences.

Connect with Dana at: https://applyyourheart.com

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