Friendship for Grown-Ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way by Lisa Whelchel

From the Book Sneeze website:


Former Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel shares her experiences of growing up without true friends and how she learned to find and develop them as an adult through God's grace.


Not many people can say they lived their most crucial developmental years on the sound stage of a wildly popular TV show. But that's exactly what happened in Lisa Whelchel's life. As a child, she learned to guard her heart so tightly to avoid true hurt that she found herself unable to form lasting friendships as an adult.


Friendship for Grown-Ups details her experiences of learning to come out of her shell, to trust, risk, and become vulnerable by God's grace and find meaningful friendships. Readers encounter her captivating story and refreshing perspective on life's most precious gift—and they find practical tips for their own friendships along the way.


My Opinion:


I've read one of Lisa's books before and so with this new one I just had to request it, because while I have friends and am a friend, I know I can always improve in that area. She built up walls to protect herself and I have done that as well - however she has been working at overcoming those walls so that she can be more transparent with her friends.


With this book I didn't feel lectured at, like some self help books do, I felt as if I was having a chat with a friend while having a cup of coffee, legs curled up under me and sitting on a couch. With both practical and Scriptural basis for how she went about healing this book is a must have for those who have erected walls, for those who don't know that they have or for those who are friends with 'walls'. Many resources are included in this book to help make you a friend or a better friend, depending on what end of the spectrum you fall on.


I like the fact that there are questions for discussion or reflection, if you wanted to turn this into a woman's study then this would be perfect or if you need to privately reflect - it'll work for that as well. Lisa Whelchel also gives some steps for developing and growing friendships - things that are practical (she's knows moms are busy, she has three and homeschooled them!) and easy for a mom to do. One way she even suggests is Facebook - for some reason it's easy to be transparent on Facebook. The other one that really sticks out is keeping cards (assorted occasion and blank) to be mailed out as needed or thought of.


This wonderful book should be a resource for every woman who wants to be a friend or become a better friend. A quick read, this is perfect for moms to read that don't have a lot of time between raising children, caring for husband and house and educating at home. I felt so good after I read this book and want to go through it again just to glean more and go through the discussion questions.


**I received a copy of this book through Book Sneeze (Thomas Nelson Publishers) in exchange for my honest review.