community

Find Your People by Jennie Allen – Review

April 4, 2022 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

About the Book

In a world that’s both more connected and more isolating than ever before, we’re often tempted to do life alone, whether because we’re so busy or because relationships feel risky and hard. But science confirms that consistent, meaningful connection with others has a powerful impact on our well-being. We are meant to live known and loved. But so many are hiding behind emotional walls that we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness.

In Find Your People, bestselling author Jennie Allen draws on fascinating insights from science and history, timeless biblical truth, and vulnerable stories from her own life to help you:

• overcome the barriers to making new friends and learn to initiate with easy-to-follow steps
• find simple ways to press through awkward to get to authentic in conversations
• understand how conflict can strengthen relationships rather than destroy them
• identify the type of friend you are and the types of friends you need
• learn the five practical ingredients you need to have the type of friends you’ve always longed for

You were created to play, engage, adventure, and explore—with others. In Find Your People, you’ll discover exactly how to dive into the deep end and experience the full wonder of community. Because while the ache of loneliness is real, it doesn’t have to be your reality.

Book Review: Sandpiper Cove by Irene Hannon

April 10, 2017 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Do you ever feel like you’re unworthy of something? That you don’t deserve anything good in your life because of bad choices or mistakes you’ve made in the past?

Step into Adam Stone’s shoes. As an ex-convicted intent on starting over and living a good but solitary life, Adam is content with his little home on the edge of the Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor. But when Police Chief Lexie Graham enters the picture, the loneliness he’s tried hard to bury is as obvious as the blue of the Pacific.

With the help of two young boys, a slew of townspeople, and a fish-taco-selling artist, will Adam discover that God wants more for him? That he was made for community?

This is a story of God’s grace and forgiveness. A story of letting go of the past and clinging to those who support you. Sandpiper Cove is a beautiful reflection of God’s endless love for each and every one of His children.

I’m looking forward to visiting Hope Harbor again (and I’m looking forward to my trip to the Oregon Coast this summer even more). Pick up the newest installment in the lives of the residents of the town where “hearts heal and love blooms.” today.

Amazon/CBD

My Rating:

The Beauty of Community Done Well

December 24, 2015 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Do you long for friendships that last longer than life itself? Friends you can count on for anything. Friends who show up no matter how hard or busy your lives are, no matter what kind of suffering any of you are going through?

During her lifetime, Kara Tippetts cultivated her community carefully.She and another member of that community, Jill Lynn Buteyn, teamed up to write about what sharing life with someone going through suffering looks like in the flesh. Kara Tippetts’ suffering was not an easy road. Not for her, her family, or those friends who love her. Her journey with cancer was chronicled on her blog, Mundane Faithfulness, and the blog only expanded her community.

In the book, Buteyn carries the burden of explaining what showing up in suffering looks like and Tippetts offers her own insights at the end of the chapter.

This book was hard to read. There is sadness and sorrow in sharing, as Tippetts calls it, the hard in someone’s life. We want to be able to fix the problem, to offer answers. But that’s not always what God calls us to. Sometimes all our loved one needs is someone to run to the store for them, to do a load or two of laundry for her family, or to simply sit and be still.

After reading this book, I long for a community like this, and now I have a blueprint as how to make it happen. Kara Tippetts loved those around her with a big love. A love that will touch lives well into eternity in heaven as her community rejoicing in seeing her whole and healthy again.

If you know someone who is suffering, if you’re suffering yourself, or if you just long for lasting and meaningful friendships, this book is a resource filled with practical and specific insights, observations, and suggestions. Just be sure and leave the tissue box near!

Just show up is available at your local Family Christian or online

***David C. Cook and Family Christian provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.