Friendships for Grown-Ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way by Lisa Whelchel was an excellent read. This was the first time I had ever read anything by Lisa. I had heard that she was a writer. But I did not know much about her ability as a writer or her writing style. The most I knew of Lisa was of her role as Blair on The Facts of Life and that she is a Christian. That’s not saying a lot!
I felt that Friendships for Grown-Ups was refreshing and eye opening. When we look at Celebrities we assume that they have it all together. Lisa reminds us that celebrities are people just like the rest of us. They struggle with fears and insecurities the way that we all do. From these things, like death, no one is exempt.
For Lisa one of the things that she struggled with the most in life is establishing true friendships. Because of who she is Lisa has found it hard to trust others. Celebrity has it perks. It also has it’s downfalls. One of which is never being sure who is really for you for who you are as a person, and not for what you do or who you know. In order to protect herself from being used, and her heart from being broken, Lisa learned how to function behind her own self-built wall of protection and self-sufficiency.
Yet one day Lisa became tired of the loneliness and lack of connection she felt with others and began the journey of making true friendships and allowing herself to be vulnerable in order to accomplish that. It was time for the walls to come down.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is or has struggled with having true connections with others. In order to better help you ( or someone you know) to do that, Lisa has also included a discussion guide, a “Practical Steps for Developing and Growing Friendships” guide, and conversation prompts.
God made us to connect and establish meaningful relationships with others. By learning how to trust God, our Greatest Friend, and allowing Him to heal our hearts, He will lead us and help us to establish healthy relationships.
Finding a real friend is not easy. It takes time, patience, trust and a willingness to allow ourselves the be vulnerable. But if we persevere we will find someone to walk though this life with us.
If you or someone you know if ready to learn about what it takes to be a friend, and create and maintain the type of friendships God wants us all to have, then this book is for you!
I am a member of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program “BookSneeze”. I received a copy of this book free of charge in order to review it. I was not paid for this review. I also was not required to give a positive review, but to give my honest opinion of what I felt about the product. Whether positive or negative, this is my honest opinion of the product.
