Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Gospel-Centered Marriage by Beth McCord and Jeff McCord

If you're curious about the Enneagram, are looking for new material on the Enneagram, or have never heard of the Enneagram and just want to help grow your marriage, Becoming Us is just the book you're looking for!  Enneagram coach Beth McCord and her husband Pastor Jeff McCord have put together a wonderful, easy to use resource for anyone who wants practical steps and tools to better understand themselves, their spouse, or really anyone they have a relationship with (friends, parents, children, co-workers, etc).

The book is in two sections.  The first section details Beth and Jeff's own story and how the Enneagram helped their marriage.  They also share examples from friends whose lives and marriages have grown through learning about the Enneagram. The second section is what the authors call "an Enneagram Roadmap". It is a detailed guide of each Enneagram type (there are 9 total) that teaches the reader how to better understand him or herself and also how to better understand his or her spouse.

The first section gives a summary of the nine Enneagram types and what the core fear, desire, weakness, and longing of each is.   It describes each type in detail, working from the core belief that each type equally reflects God's glory and creativity when it is emotionally and spiritually healthy and living in alignment with the Gospel.  This section also discusses the layers of the Enneagram, including triads and wings.  Don't worry about all these terms, they are thoroughly explained in the book.

The second section, the Enneagram Roadmap,  is divided into two parts: Understanding Me and Understanding Them.  It teaches how to understand your spouse (or other person you are in relationship with) better, how to recognize their behavior tendencies, their core motivations, and their communication and conflict styles.  The main focus of this section is how you can best understand and love each other.

Beth and Jeff''s desire is for every marriage and every relationship to be thriving and Gospel-centered.  Their mission is "for people to see themselves with astonishing clarity so they can break free from self-condemnation, fear and shame by knowing and experiencing the unconditional love, forgiveness, and freedom in Christ."

I am most impressed with the McCords and the work they put into this highly researched, well laid out book and I highly recommend it!