The Beautiful Wife by Sandy Ralya

This book is not about physical beauty. “It's a book for the woman who longs to develop deep relationships with real women who don't gloss over the dirty realities of life.” (17) Because women have helped and do help her in the ups and downs of her marriage, Sandy helps others through her Beautiful Womanhood ministry and this book.

She shares biblical principles and their practical applications, illustrating them with life experiences – stories of imperfect women with imperfect marriages.

The twelve chapters in the book cover:

Equipping (turn to God, understand your role, share within a community of women, Titus 2:1,3-5). This forms the basis for the work in the rest of the book.

Self-Care (spiritual, emotional, physical)

Genuineness (removing the masks)

Mystique (passions, priorities, appearance, attitude)

Romance (Trust, Respect, Appreciate, Confer, Expose)

Sex (thoughts, improvements)

Communication (direct, kind, time and place, listen, initiate dialogue)

Speaking Truth (identify, love, speak)

Money (God's plan, spending, crisis)

Beauty (expression, attitude, focus)

Professional (strategy for success)

Choices (humility, obedience, begin)

At the end of each chapter, Ralya includes Reflections for meditation and discussion, as well as First Steps, to get the reader going on the path.

Ideally, this book (and the companion books below) would be used as the curriculum for a Beautiful Womanhood small group. You could start such a group in your church or community. There is a free small-group starter kit available at www.beautifulwomanhood.com.

These books can also be used individually. You might want to find one other wife to encourage as each of you read through the book and respond to the Reflection questions. You can always join in on the conversation with other wives reading The Beautiful Wife on Facebook. For ongoing marriage enrichment, subscribe to the blog at www.beautifulwomanhood.com/blog.

The companion materials include a Prayer Journal and a Mentor's Guide.

The Prayer Journal corresponds to each chapter in The Beautiful Wife. It includes a prayer on the chapter topic to pray each day of the week, questions on the chapter with Scripture verses to look up, and lots of space to record the thoughts generated. The Journal is an excellent tool to help incorporate The Beautiful Wife principles into daily life.

The Mentor's Guide has great suggestions for the leader and ideas for the host of the group. Tips for leaders include the general technique of mentoring, leading the group sessions (including how to deal with group dynamics), etc. There are also suggestions for the individual chapter sessions, preparing for discussion, points to emphasize, prayer, and an optional creative activity. This Guide contains all you need to mentor other wives.

I am impressed with this material. If you feel God's call on your life to mentor wives, this will be an excellent resource for you.

Sandy Ralya: When her own marriage was in trouble, she did not know where to go for help. She turned to God through Bible reading and prayer. She sought help from trusted friends, godly counselors and wise Christian friends. The support she received from other women inspired her to become the founder and director of Beautiful Womanhood, a Christian marriage ministry for wives. She has appeared on several talk shows and is a sought after speaker. Snady and her husband Tom have been married since 1980 and live near Grand Rapids, MI. they have three adult children and four granddaughters. Find out more about her and her ministry at www.beautifulwomanhood.com.


Watch a video of Sandy's testimony here.


Watch a video about the Beautiful Womanhood ministry here.


I am one of many taking part in the blog tour of this book.  You can see the reviews of others here.

Kregel product information. 

I received complimentary copies of these books from the publisher for the purpose of this review.