I stared at my black patent leather shoes, shiny next to the faded tile floor.
“Today, ask someone to be your friend,” the pastor said during the children’s sermon. “It will make your heart feel good to have a new friend.”
So I asked her if she would be my friend. And she said no.
The sting of that six-year-old rejection still manifests in a 34-year-old heart. It stifles my confidence, steals my joy, and coats me in fear and ugly thoughts.
They don’t need me to be their friend. They have everything all together and when they find out what a mess I am, they’ll laugh at me. They’re already laughing at me when I’m not around. I bet they’re texting each other in a new thread that I’m not on. Why did she ‘like’ HER post but not mine? I’m not cool enough to be her friend. We’re too different to be friends. I don’t need more friends.
The enemy is hard at work in the lives of women and their friendships.
But we can defeat him. He has already been defeated! And that means defeated in every way — the big things, the little things, and everything in between.
It’s up to us to harness the love of God and share it with the people we encounter as we let Him splash life into our friendships.
Your friendships matter — to God, to your life, to our hearts.
At (in)courage, friendships are kind of our jam. We’ve spent years telling you our stories and listening to yours. We’ve laughed and cried over cupcakes and coffee. We’ve shared videos from across the globe, finding the common threads and themes that bind our hearts and transcend community boundaries.
And now, you can hold all of this in your hands.
Arriving on January 10th, meet the first (in)courage book! Craving Connection: 30 Challenges for Real-Life Engagement is all the conversations about community that we’ve had over the years, gathered up between two covers.
Every (in)RL meetup. Every blog post. Every book club. Every pretty picture on Instagram. Each and every bit of it, plus 30 of our writers best real-life stories, practical tips, and ever-encouraging words in one beautiful book, which you can preorder now!
And friends. You’re going to want to do just that because in true (in)courage fashion, there are some incredibly beautiful gifts included for you and your friends. Books, necklaces, coloring sheets, gift tags and more — all items to help you live into the purpose of this book before you even read it! All the details are on the book’s site, but this is the first {and most amazing} of the preorder deals:
Basically, if you preorder a copy for yourself by December 15th, we’re going to send you another copy of Craving Connection, a gorgeous necklace set, gift tags, and coloring pages. I mean. Amazing, right?
Friends, this book? It’s for you, in the very same way (in)courage is for you. A place where you’re welcome, just as you are. Where we can all come together, kick up our feet and talk friendship — the good, the painful, the funny, and the just plain hard. Where we come away feeling refreshed, our cravings for connections satiated, and our hearts ready to pour out love.
No matter how many times you’ve chased after friendship and been denied, rejected, turned down, or even told ‘no’, there is hope.
Really big hope, the only kind that won’t disappoint because it stems from His great love. So let’s crave together, led by the One who instilled us with a longing for connection. For more about Craving Connection, watch this video:
Anna,
Oh how exciting!! Just another example that good things always come from (in)courage!! I’ll be pre-ordering! What a great gift to give or I may use it as a giveaway on my blog…either way it will certainly be a blessing to the recipient! As always, love the feeling of community and connection I find here each day 🙂
Advent blessings to y’all,
Bev xx
You are a lovely comment-line leader, Bev. Thank you for your on-going engagement in this space. 🙂
I second this!! Bev your faithful voice and encouragement here in the comments every day is the stuff of beauty and wonder! We are so grateful for you!
I’m thirding it! Thank you for your constant encouragement, Bev.
Echoing with the other voices here – Bev, you’re a straight up gift to our community. We love you!
Wow ladies,
You really made my day…I feel like the little girl in the patent leather shoes asking if you’ll be my friend? And you all respond with a resounding…we love you! God-winks!!
Bev xoxo
Boing!Boing!Boing! I’ve been SO excited about December 1st for THIS reason–our (in)courage baby is finally here! Friends, I’ve had the pleasure of pre-reading the entire thing, and I can promise, if you are looking for encouragement, inspiration, and challenges as it relates to community, you will find story after story that points you in those directions. In our individual pursuits of seeking God, we find him in so many places, and perhaps the sweetest finding is when we discover community in unexpected ways. I’m honored to be a part of this collection, and believe it will be a blessing to you. All of you :).
A perfect gift to give yourself…and a special one to share with a friend. I hope you’re able to take advantage of pre-release incentives…two books for the price of one and a bunch of other prizes!! <3
Wheehoooo!! Surcies for all!! 🙂
YOU SAID SURCIES!! <3
I am really trying to open up my heart and home to new friendships in our new neighbor hood but I have so much hesitation to make my life more full. My family and my business keep me very busy and that is good for me but I know friendships are important. How do I keep the balance so I don’t neglect the things I cherish, like quiet moments with my family?
Hi Gina,
Friendships are SO hard. Being a working mom, I’ve learned that ‘and’ is not often an option for me anymore – it’s usually a matter of ‘or’. You know? But I’m also learned the value that comes with committing to good, healthy and deep friendships. I find that texting can help keep me connected to my friends until we’re able to get together, and that when we do meet face to face we work it into our real life. Not too many girls nights out over here – more like weekend playdates and lukewarm coffee while we talk over our kids! I’m in a new neighborhood now too (we just moved a week ago!) so I know I need to come out of my introvert desires and make an effort 😉
Hang in there, Gina, and know that any efforts made will only be magnified by God. He’s for friendship, I’m just sure of it.
Anna, thanks for sharing this! I just ordered my book and am super excited about it! And I’m looking forward to hanging out with you in real life in a few months, friend. xoxo
YAY! I cannot WAIT for our retreat. Cannot wait to see you, and learn all the things from our fearless leader 😉
It’s funny. On IG this morning, I posted about friendships and how lately I miss quality time with other women/friends. It seems friendship has changed a lot these days. People are content with surface relationships that are well controlled and contained by the walls of social media. I’ll admit my personality makes me lean toward “alone time,” but I miss the days when a small group bible study zapped every ounce of energy I had on a Saturday morning, but I loved every minute of it. I’ve loosely followed (In)Courage for years, but today while reading this post I realized I’ve not taken time to soak up what this community has to offer. Making that a “to do” for the coming year. And excited about this book!!
We’re glad you’re here in any capacity, Monica! So happy you took the time to leave these encouraging and honest words here.
One great (and easy) way to soak up more of (in)courage is to subscribe for the posts to be emailed right to you. It’s a great way to learn more of our heart and hear from our amazing writers! You can sign up here: https://aws.incourage.me/subscribe
<3
Can’t WAIT for people to be blessed by this book! Such a privilege to read an advance copy — it’s a keeper! Such a blessing in so many ways.
Well, yay. How fun. Congrats to you all. : )
This is so exciting! I can’t wait to read this book! Thank you for making this for all of us, and thank you for all of the generous bonus offers with preorder.
This sounds like a book I can use and from what I’ve heard over and over from my other women in my life, they need it too.
Thank you,this message just inspired me
Anna and friends,
Congratulations on the new book! WHOOT WHOOT!! I used to have a hard time making friends as I was shy. Now I’m open to really deep friendships. I have a group of 4 women, all of us worked together for 3-4 years. We get together once a month and discuss life, families, etc. It is nice to be able to stay in contact with them, see how their lives are going and pray for them!
Blessings 🙂
I’m thrilled for the words on these pages…how fun to have them in hand! This is such a sweet, unique, hope-filled place over here at (in)courage and I can’t wait to cheer and champion this book to all the gals. What a great idea friends.
XO Jenny
I just received the book today… and am excited to get started. Is there an organized study that goes along with this or do we use it as it suits us?