Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Letters to Karen: A Father's Advice On Keeping Love in Marriage
    Letters to Karen: A Father's Advice On Keeping Love in Marriage
    Letters to Karen: A Father's Advice On Keeping Love in Marriage
    Ebook148 pages3 hours

    Letters to Karen: A Father's Advice On Keeping Love in Marriage

    By Charlie W.Shedd

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Every bride wants her father's blessing and to have the wisdom that comes from more than forty years of happy marriage.

    In this classic book, a father writes letters of love, encouragement, and advice to his newly engaged daughter. In his letters are the hopes and dreams that all parents share for their children as they begin a new chapter of their lives.

    Beloved for its thoughtfulness and insight, the advice found in Letters to Karen is a sound and relevant today as when it was originally written in 1965.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateSep 1, 2012
    ISBN9781426759499
    Letters to Karen: A Father's Advice On Keeping Love in Marriage

    Related to Letters to Karen

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Wednesday, December 5

      Oct 15, 2018

      I’VE BEEN MARRIED TO MY husband, John, for twenty-six years, but for many years I didn’t think that would be the case. My doubt was due to the fears and mistrust I carried into my marriage. I didn’t know my biological dad, and my stepfather was uninv

      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Jun 15, 2020

      A lot of people are asking why the world is the way it is. What’s going on? What on earth is God doing? Most of these people have never considered God before, but are questioning now that there is this terrible international crisis that is killing th

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 27, 2020

      I I believe b that we are living in the end times as we read about in all the books of the Gospel and listen to what Jesus had said. He warned of pestilences and famines. I believe that Covid-19 is one of the pestilences, as well as all the locusts t

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 18, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Faith Empowered

      May 27, 2020

      Faith Empowered
      6 min read

    • Article

      The List

      Jul 30, 2021

      The List
      6 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 19, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      8 min read

    • Article

      Brenda Salgado Lets Love In

      Oct 31, 2018

      Brenda Salgado Lets Love In
      21 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Feb 23, 2024

      EACH week our team comes together to discuss and plan the magazine – from choosing which stories will go into the issue to sourcing images for each page and seeing everything through to the layout process. And week after week, story after story, the

      5 min read

    • Article

      My story Remembering Bob

      Jun 17, 2020

      My story Remembering Bob
      6 min read

    • Article

      Finding new FRIENDS

      Dec 18, 2022

      Musings from our favourite Kiwi funnywoman At family gatherings, my adorable great-uncle Frank – a wise and witty raconteur in a family not short of them – was fond of saying at the end of a story, “Oh, well… you can choose your friends, but you can’

      2 min read

    • Article

      My story Remembering Bob

      Jun 17, 2020

      My story Remembering Bob
      6 min read

    • Article

      Married With Benefits

      Apr 13, 2019

      Married With Benefits
      18 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Dec 30, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      8 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Aug 25, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      6 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jul 21, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      6 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      May 26, 2023

      I READ an article in The New York Times today about feeling alive again. There were familiar tips – being mindful, appreciating what you have, doing the things you love. But there was a piece that really struck me. Try to find fascination in everythi

      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Jun 24, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Apr 14, 2023

      Send your letters to editor@joymag.co.za Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for

      7 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Feb 11, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      6 min read

    • Article

      Steven Pinker

      Oct 24, 2022

      Steven Pinker
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Brand-new ending

      Jan 29, 2022

      A Brand-new ending
      7 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Nov 17, 2023

      YOU know that feeling when you’re excited about something but a bit sad about it at the same time? It’s that feeling that gives you butterflies in your belly but also a bit of a squeeze in the chest. Bittersweet doesn’t quite describe it but I’m sure

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Letters to Karen

    3.5/5

    23 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Though it is over 40 years since this book was written, it is one of the best books on marriage and relationships. The principles and teachings in this book will improve your interactions and relationships with, not only your spouse, but others if put into practice. It is also a quick and easy read so those who are "too busy" have no excuse for not investing a little time to gain a lot of wisdom.
    • 5/5
      Excellent! A MUST read for daughters before they get married! Good reminder for wives.

    Book preview

    Letters to Karen - Charlie W.Shedd

    INTRODUCTION

    Dear Reader,

    In 1964 I was a nineteen-year-old girl planning to marry the boy of my dreams. I think back and realize it was a time of overwhelming change. It wasn’t just my life; the whole world was launching into a new era. I didn’t fully understand that then. I was cozy in a happy home, with parents who loved me and four brothers. But more important than our parents’ love for us was their love and support for each other. They were quite the pair. No matter how much society changed around them, my parents’ love and commitment to each other was rock-solid.

    My father, Charlie Shedd, was a beloved pastor and writer. His words had encouraged and assured many people over the years. I knew the best gift he could give me would be insight into what made a happy marriage. I sensed that his insight was gained not only from his time with my mother, but also from the years he had spent counseling with others about their relationships. The letters Daddy sent me were filled with rich, thought-provoking suggestions and practical human-relations exercises that he had picked up and thought about.

    Each letter was a conversation between a girl and her first love—the father who would always want the best for her. I look back on those letters now and see him as he was then. I can hear his voice and his laughter. I do so appreciate the thought and effort he put into my letters. For me it is a happy thing that I requested Daddy’s advice in a time when parents still wrote letters to children away at college. I cannot imagine that the depth of thought and wisdom in those letters could have been as beautifully conveyed in today’s rapid-fire communication.

    When Letters to Karen became a book, I don’t think any of us, least of all my father, realized the impact it would have on the world. Since 1964, it has never been out of print. There are well over two million copies in print in many countries and languages. I know that many single copies have been passed from hand to hand and home to home. That means millions of lives have been touched by the advice my father gave me all those years ago.

    When people talk to me about Letters to Karen, the first thing they say is how wise my father was: He told me the truth and did not shy away from hard or embarrassing subjects. The second thing people comment on is how, although society, the roles of men and women, and so much else about our lives has changed, so much of my father’s advice remains as sound and as relevant today as it was in 1964. I have come to believe that the timelessness of these letters has more to do with the fact that human nature and human interaction do not change. Love is enduring when it is well tended.

    For those reasons, we decided there was no need to update the book for a new generation. While it has been edited slightly, for the most part what you read here are the letters Daddy wrote to me in 1964. Some references will seem dated, but so much of the advice is current and relevant. The witty figures of speech still amuse.

    If you are reading this book as you plan your wedding or as you work to refresh a relationship, then I wish you joy and hope that these words will touch your life today as they did mine all those years ago, and as they continue to do today.

    Karen Shedd Guarino

    PREFACE

    This is for Karen. She is one of the fair young daughters of Eve who grace our land. Karen is many things. She is chiefly a lover of peace. But for combat she is armed with cunning. (She has four brothers.) In jeans and sweatshirt she has all the charm of the girl next door. Then again, dressed for the ball, she bears herself with elegance. At times she is somewhat of a romp. Yet on other occasions she would go with you to the deepest interiors.

    Ardent and adorable, comely and clever, winsome and wise—that’s Karen!

    I’m her dad. I know what you’re thinking, and you are right. There are some prejudiced fathers. But if you knew Karen as I know Karen, you would say, Now speakest thou the truth plainly!

    Several months before she was married, Karen asked me to write her some special letters. Daddy, she said at her beaming best, I’d like you to tell me how I can keep him loving me forever!

    There are two reasons my daughter would make such a request. For one thing, I am a pastor. As such, I have discussed matrimonial matters with countless couples. I have also spent many hours with wives alone and husbands by themselves.

    This is nothing unusual these days. Most of my clergy friends are caught up in the marriage entanglements of their people.

    What can we do?

    Sometimes very little. This is especially true when their minds are already set. They come for agreement, not advice. Occasionally one wants to negotiate, but the other will not.

    So we can only watch in horror while another home crashes on the hard rocks of charges, countercharges, bitterness, and revenge.

    As you would do, we try to lend a hand in picking up the pieces. This is especially difficult if there are children. They may remind us of broken eggs whose nests have been blown from beneath them.

    Then we have our good days when everything goes well. Frequently, this is not our doing. We sense a mysterious visitation, some holy hunch, that could only come from wisdom greater than our own.

    Now we may witness one of the pastor’s big thrills. The quarrelers kiss and make up. Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

    That’s how it is. Bewilderment to keep us wondering! Failure to keep us humble! Success to keep us trying! So, anymore, as they come through my study door I join the Brittany fishermen in their winsome prayer, Keep us, O God! The sea is so big and our boats are so little!

    You will agree it was a reasonable request which my daughter made. Certain rules apply to every marriage. Yet each wedding also creates a pattern that will develop its own unique involvements.

    Accordingly, these letters left my mailbox with a father’s prayer that they might be useful to one woman and her beloved.

    But most of us need every possible aid for better fulfilling the laws of love. We need help in learning the language of devotion.

    Because this is true, these letters are offered here with the added wish that they may be helpful to others—young, mature, older—as they accept this challenge.

    Is there any greater hope than this? If we can succeed in building happier homes, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we have helped this much to create a healthy society.

    I said there were two reasons that my particular daughter might ask me to write some answers to her question. As I was saying, she is an astute young lady. She knows how little her dad really knows. But she also knows another thing.

    Reason two is the subject of letter one.

    CHARLIE W. SHEDD

    EXHIBIT A

    My dear Karen,

    You always were a clever little thing, and I see you have lost none of your touch.

    They say, Flattery will get you everywhere! It did this time. You sent me quickly to my typewriter. Wouldn’t any father swell with pride before such admiration? Imagine that! My daughter thinks that much of my opinions.

    But when I sat down to begin, a great light dawned!

    Your request is a superb compliment, but it is not for me. For twenty years you have been observing Exhibit A!

    Therefore, brought low once more by your trickery, I accept your proposal as the magnificent bouquet to your mother which it really is.

    You know how devoid I am of knowledge in many areas. But you also know that on one item I am an unmitigated authority. Firsthand, I understand how good it is to be loved by a genius in the art of being a wife.

    It will be fun describing my favorite person, so I’ll be writing you again real soon.

    Love,

    Dad

    WE KNOW IN PART

    My dear Karen,

    When you were in high school, you went with many boys. We watched on tiptoe when some new date came to the house. Would this be the one?

    If my memory serves me correctly, not one of them was a total collapse. We admired your taste. They were all nice-looking. Even the big clown who was so homely he’s cute, as you put it, wasn’t overly hard on our eyes.

    We liked something about every boy you ever dated.

    (Come to think of it, there was that one you said reminded you of a stray puppy looking for a home. We thought he’d never go away. He was the nearest to an exception.)

    We would discuss them between us, your mother and I, and we were proud of your friends. They were well-mannered, clean-cut, nicely groomed when they should be, and such good drivers. This last is what you told us, and I guess you are living proof of your claim.

    That giant he-man football player took our eye. He must have spent a fortune calling you long-distance. He reminded us of a Saint Bernard dog—huge, but so gentle and leisurely.

    Then came a night I’ll never forget. It was after you had dated him for some time. I was still up when you came in, and you announced that you had just crossed him off your list, too. You know how it is with fathers. I was afraid that something unpleasant had happened.

    No, you assured me, he’s so sweet. But, Daddy, could we visit a little right now?

    As nearly as I can recall them, your exact words were: I worry sometimes about me. It seems as if all the boys I ever go with are just darling for a while and then I get bored. After a few dates it’s as if I knew all there is to know. Do you think there’s something wrong with me? I’m scared when I think about getting married. How could I possibly spend my whole life with one man? Do you suppose I’ll ever find one interesting enough to keep my attention forever?

    Of course I assured you that someday one would appear, riding from out of somewhere, and he would have ample soul to keep you entertained for always. You said you weren’t sure I was right.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1