Echoes of Eden by E. Douglas Clark

The subtitle is "Eternal Lessons from our First Parents"
Even though this book is ten years old, it feels very current with my thinking and the thinking I'm hearing from guests on the Maxwell Institute Podcast and the Leading Saints podcast. This author inspired hope in me about my role as a wife and partner. Using wonderful and interesting sources, not well-known, he makes a strong case for absolute equal partnership between husbands and wives.

For years in the church we have heard, "Women and men are equal, but the man presides in the home." Or similar. This is counsel that I heard and heeded. But it did not lead me to a good place. I often abdicated my responsibility for thinking and doing; instead, I got lazy and left it up to Leonard in many cases. I blamed the above doctrine for this. And I was wrong, very wrong!

This author does a beautiful job of giving examples of how Eve and Sariah were powerful and respected and vital partners in the work of their husbands. They were in it together, just as our Heavenly Parents intended it. Looking at their lives, it inspired me to be more devoted in my partnership with Leonard and to take my place as his equal. Not to abdicate. I loved President Hinckley's clear counsel on this matter, but somehow I didn't hear it. Now I do.

I really enjoyed this book and the new meaning it gave to my understanding as a wife. And it also helped me appreciate many of the aspects of their lives that I had never before considered. Well worth the read!