Messy Beautiful Friendship
Finding and Nurturing Deep and Lasting Relationships
About
Friendship is one of God's greatest gifts.
We long for deep and lasting friendships, but they can be challenging to make--and keep. Our expectations of ourselves and our friends can often leave us feeling insecure and isolated. With engaging true stories and guidance drawn from Scripture, Christine Hoover offers a fresh, biblical vision for friendship that allows for the messiness of our lives and the realities of our schedules. She shows you:
- what's holding you back from developing satisfying friendships
- how to make and deepen friendships
- how to overcome insecurity, self-imposed isolation, and past hurts
- how to embrace the people God has already placed in your life as potential friends
- how to revel in the beauty and joy of everyday friendship
"This book will minister to you no matter what season of life you are in and no matter what your current perspective on friendship may be."--Gloria Furman, author of Missional Motherhood and Alive in Him
"Filled with biblical wisdom, practical advice, and compelling personal stories, Messy Beautiful Friendship reminds us exactly why friendship is a gift from God and how we can give and receive it with grace, gratitude, and joy."--Michelle DeRusha, author of Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk
"Finally, here is a timely word to women, using God's Word as guidance, on how to do this crazy thing called friendship well."--Sara Hagerty, author of Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet
Christine Hoover is a pastor's wife, mom, speaker, and the author of From Good to Grace and The Church Planting Wife. She has written for The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, and Christianity Today. Blogging at www.GraceCoversMe.com, she enjoys helping women apply the gift of God's grace to their daily lives. She lives in Virginia.
Endorsements
"Friends . . . we take them for granted when we have them. We miss them when they're gone. We're hesitant about new ones, and we're scared to go deeper with the ones we have. Christine Hoover has written a book about friendship that will minister to you no matter what season of life you are in and no matter what your current perspective on friendship may be. This is possible because she draws from the timeless truth of God's Word and points us to Jesus, our Savior who has befriended us."
Gloria Furman, author of Missional Motherhood and Alive in Him
"Christine Hoover not only uncovers the roots beneath the frustration, disappointment, and loneliness we often experience in our pursuit of friendship but also sets us on a clear course toward discovering and nurturing gratifying, intimate, God-designed friendships with our fellow sisters. Filled with biblical wisdom, practical advice, and compelling personal stories, Messy Beautiful Friendship reminds us exactly why friendship is a gift from God and how we can give and receive it with grace, gratitude, and joy."
Michelle DeRusha, author of Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk
"Doesn't every friendship just 'happen' like it did in elementary school when your neighbor was your best friend with whom you shared a seat on the bus and passed notes in class? Thirty-some years later, I need this book. Christine Hoover, with refreshing approachability and lightness, approaches a loaded topic from God's perspective. Finally, here is a timely word to women, using his Word as guidance, on how to do this crazy thing called friendship well."
Sara Hagerty, author of Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet
"Every person will one day find themselves in a season where friendships are messy, difficult, or nonexistent, and in those seasons it can be tempting to blame-shift, check-out, or declare it too difficult to be sustained. Christine Hoover has written a book for all of us who find ourselves where we do not want to be and never envisioned we would be. Messy Beautiful Friendship is a book on how to be a friend and how to make them, how to keep them and how to keep from worshiping them. This is a book for every woman who has said to me, 'I feel so alone,' including myself. Christine, in an act of friendship toward her readers, makes us laugh, listen, and see ourselves on every page and challenges us to see Christ as our greatest joy-bringing relationship."
Lore Ferguson Wilbert, author and speaker
"Christine Hoover opens the door and welcomes us all to richer, deeper, and more meaningful relationships in Messy Beautiful Friendship. She writes with wisdom, understanding, vulnerability, and profound insight as she unpacks the brokenness and beauty of relationships among women. This book is a must-read for anyone hoping to build healthy and God-centered friendships in their lives."
Melissa Kruger, author of Envy of Eve and Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood
"Christine truthfully voices what so many of us feel about friendship, that it's harder than we expect and yet more needed than we sometimes admit. This book inspires us toward more meaningful friendships and a deeper understanding of the God who brings us together. I'm personally grateful for Christine's gentle and helpful exhortation . . . so applicable and timely."
Ruth Chou Simons, author and artist; founder of GraceLaced.com
"Everyone who is a friend or who desires meaningful friendships should read this book! As one who has struggled with the messiness and beauty of finding and maintaining friendships, I found this book so helpful. At points, Christine's stories echo my own--the fumbles, the assumptions, the 'hashtag friends,' the unmet needs and joys. I've longed for the illusive ideal of friendships that serve me and squeeze God out of my life rather than embracing the divine reality that my friendships are opportunities to love the Lord with all my heart in fellowship with others who are doing the same. All that we think we want and need from a flourishing friendship can be found in Christ. He is whom we should seek and long to be in friendship with, and by his amazing grace, he gives us friends who are dim but beautiful reflections of his friendship with us."
Kristie Anyabwile, pastor's wife, mom, writer/speaker
"Few things in life can match the beauty, warmth, and consolation of a true friendship. Similarly, few things in life can be as disappointing, distressing, and disillusioning as a friendship gone bad. Christine Hoover acts as an able guide on a journey to discover what the Bible has to say about friendship. She kindly leads the way, humbly guiding us through the Word of God to unveil a vision that is truly worth pursuing in every way. Do yourself a favor: grab a copy, read it, digest it--then go find a friend, walk through the pages together, and find yourselves at the other end more wholly prepared for your final home."
Jonathan Holmes, pastor of counseling, Parkside Church; author of The Company We Keep: In Search of Biblical Friendship
The Author
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Christine Hoover
Christine Hoover is a pastor's wife, mom of three boys, host of the By Faith podcast, and author of several books, including With All Your Heart, Searching for Spring, Messy Beautiful Friendship,...
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