Beyond Ordinary: When a Good Marriage Just Isn't Good Enough

What a moving and inspiring testimony! Justin and Trisha Davis are powerful examples of God’s ability to breathe new life into a marriage that seems to have reached the end. With scriptural insights gained through the Davises’ own fight to save their marriage,
Beyond Ordinary
encourages every couple to believe that their relationship can become truly extraordinary.

President, Focus on the Family

Justin and Trisha have lived through extreme difficulty and brokenness in their marriage, but the Jesus we follow loves to take broken things and put them back together. That kind of deep healing has been part of my story, and it’s the story of so many of the children Compassion is blessed to serve every day. I hope that as you read these pages, you’ll find a deeper understanding of how complete dependence on God is the only way to fully live.

President and CEO of Compassion International

Ordinary marriages are only one or two steps away from destruction, which is so unfortunate because the God of the universe designed marriage to be far from ordinary. In this book Justin and Trisha share a story of struggle and hope as they pull back the curtain on what was almost a tragic marriage, which turned into triumph because they were both willing to deal with the heart rather than simply trying to repair external issues. I am
so thankful that they wrote this book and believe it will help people to stop fighting
in
their marriages and begin fighting
for
them.

Senior pastor of NewSpring Church

Justin and Trisha share their story with transparency and courage. But this book goes beyond just storytelling. They provide practical and powerful teaching that is applicable to every couple—newlywed or veteran. This resource will greatly strengthen your marriage. I can say that honestly, because it’s done it for mine.

Five-time GMA Female Vocalist of the Year

Everyone likes a good love story. But many of us spend our lives slightly disappointed in the love story we’re trying to live.
Beyond Ordinary
is what you’ve been looking for if you want to ignite your relationship to become what God intended for you to have. The practical advice and engaging writing will make you turn to this book’s wisdom time and again.

New York Times
bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

My favorite thing about this book is that it’s not a book on how to have a perfect marriage. It’s a book about having a real marriage. And the difference between those two things is monumental. Honest, insightful, and helpful, this is an awesome resource.

Wall Street Journal
bestselling author of
Quitter
and
Stuff Christians Like

Justin and Trisha Davis have given every married couple a gift on the pages of this book. Their refreshing honesty peels back the layers of marriage to reveal the real challenges we all face. Their story will help you examine your marriage and learn what it takes to move it from ordinary to extraordinary!

CEO of Hearts at Home and author of
No More Perfect Moms

Beyond Ordinary
is raw, painfully honest, and wildly hopeful. Its rawness will cut to the depths of your heart. Its honesty will shock and shake you to your core. And its hopefulness will give you the gospel-empowered resources to have an extraordinary marriage and life. This book should be required reading for every Christian college student and church staff. It’s that’s good.

Lead pastor of Transformation Church

Beyond Ordinary
is a great resource for any married couple. Justin and Trisha are courageously transparent as they expose the intimate details of their marriage in an effort to help others face their own marital struggles without being burdened by the overwhelming thought that they are all alone. There is a perfect balance of storytelling and biblical application that is sure to encourage every couple to strive for an extraordinary marriage!

Author of the Unveiled Wife blog

In this book of searing honesty, Justin and Trisha remind us that marriage, like any other good and beautiful thing, is worth fighting for and cannot be won or kept without the desire
to fight for it. In their story you will find your story, or you will find hope for a story that needs healing in its own way.

Author of
The Me I Want to Be
and senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

Justin and Trisha Davis have given us a profound gift of transparency and practical hope in
Beyond Ordinary
. Through their own journey they point the way to better relationships and healing for all of us, whether we are struggling or striving. This is a great, realistic book filled with life lessons we all need to apply.

Author of
Torn
and senior pastor of Central Christian Church, Las Vegas

Justin and Trisha Davis’ story is more than just inspiring, it’s evidence of truth.
Beyond Ordinary
gave us hope for something bigger than “ordinary” in our marriage and gave us the tools to see that hope turn into a reality.

Lead singer of Plumb

Beyond Ordinary is an inspiring marriage story that gives hope to those who want an extraordinary marriage. Justin and Trisha Davis fought for their marriage and won, and you can too.

Host of
The Ken Coleman Show

As a pastor, I’m often asked what is the most important issue facing the church today. There are many, but in my opinion, it comes down to marriage. When marriages fail or stagnate, there is a ripple effect for years to come. Sadly, this is the usual,
ordinary story being told today. That’s why
Beyond Ordinary
is so important. Justin and Trisha are real people with a real story of extraordinary hope and healing. It’s why this is no ordinary book.

Lead pastor of Gwinnett Church

What an honor it is for me to be able to endorse a book I know will change so many marriages. As a friend of Justin and Trish, I have had the opportunity to see the way their teaching has spoken wisdom to so many others. I have also witnessed what a beautiful, strong relationship they share with each other. It is clear from my time with them that they love the Lord and seek to glorify Him even through their own brokenness, and I just know how many men and women will be blessed through their soul searching and solid, biblical teaching. I hope many people buy this book and move one step closer to that which the Lord desires of us: true restoration.

Author of
What Women Fear
and speaker for Women of Faith

We all want a life that’s more than ordinary, especially when it comes to our relationships. But few of us are willing to pay the price, to do the work and go through the pain. Justin and Trisha show you what it takes—through their painful but beautiful tale of love and loss—to have an incredible marriage, life, and faith. Reading this book just might save you a few scars, but be prepared: it will also call you out of complacency and into something extraordinary.

Author of
Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life

Beyond Ordinary
is the best marriage book I’ve ever read! Justin and Trisha not only share their heartbreaking yet redemptive story, but they explain how they landed in an ordinary marriage full of devastation. They share godly wisdom and practical advice that will benefit
all
marriages. Today, their marriage résumé has
betrayal
listed on it, but you’d never know it. They have leaned into their heavenly Father and allowed, even begged Him to take their once mediocre, deficient marriage and not only give them a new, improved, extraordinary marriage, but help you have one too. And you will, if you read this book.

Author of
Healing Your Marriage When Trust Is Broken

With touching transparency, practical wisdom, and biblically based advice, Justin and Trisha Davis provide a compelling look at the ways a couple can see their marriage renewed and transformed.
Beyond Ordinary
offers proof positive that even the most struggling marriage can be resurrected into a thriving relationship that glorifies God.

Assistant to the president for millennial relations, Focus on the Family

This is a game-changing book on marriage by Justin and Trisha Davis. Finally, a Christian resource for couples that preaches personal responsibility, facing conflict, and living with a sense of purpose and intentionality. This is a book that I will continue to draw on not only for my own marriage, but for the hundreds of couples I work with in my therapy practice.
Thank you for writing this book and sharing so authentically your story of how God refined your marriage.

Licensed marriage and family therapist and author of
The Anxious Christian: Can God Use Your Anxiety for Good?

Justin and Trisha demonstrate how to achieve the dynamic marriage God intends for us—whether we’re experiencing catastrophe or just caught in the grind of the ordinary life. Every married couple should read this!

Author of
The Measure of Our Success
and senior pastor of Mountain Lake Church

Justin and Trisha Davis have an honest and heart-wrenching story about what happens all too often in today’s marriages. However, their commitment to faith and forgiveness is so incredibly rare and
beyond ordinary
that it’s an inspiring testimony of hope to any marriage in any condition. Learn from their painful mistakes, heed their practical advice, and inherit God’s powerful grace through their story. This book will absolutely transform your faith in God and the future of your marriage!

New York Times
bestselling author of
Take the Stairs

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Beyond Ordinary: When a Good Marriage Just Isn’t Good Enough

Copyright © 2012 by Justin and Trisha Davis. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph taken by Stephen Vosloo. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Small snapshot photograph by Lee Steffen. Used with permission.

Authors’ photograph taken by Stephen Vosloo. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Designed by Jennifer Ghionzoli

Edited by Jonathan Schindler

Published in association with literary agent Jenni Burke of D. C. Jacobson and Associates, An Author Management Company,
www.DCJacobson.com
.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the
Holy Bible
, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
,
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NIV
.
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Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
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Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.

Scripture quotations marked
The Message
are taken from
The Message
by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davis, Justin.

Beyond ordinary : when a good marriage just isn’t good enough / Justin and Trisha Davis.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 978-1-4143-7227-3 (sc)

1. Marriage—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Davis, Trisha. II. Title.

BV835.D383 2012

248.8'44—dc23 2012030588