The Life Council; Ten Friends Every Woman Needs
My kids are currently listening to Queen’s Greatest Hits album on repeat. They’re big fans of “You’re My Best Friend”, and we’ve had a bunch of conversations as we drive to field days and swimming and piano about what makes someone a best friend. What character traits really matter? What skills do we need to maintain friendships, especially when people move locations and as they mature as people? What really makes a best friend? My kids range in age from toddler to college student, but one dynamic remains the same for all of them as they form and maintain relationships; communication. My two year old and my nineteen year old both FaceTime friends regularly just to say hi and share a tidbit of their lives (granted, one usually discusses the boop boop trucks working on the street and the other discusses an audition she just had, but they’re of equal importance to both of them and their friends). When feelings are hurt, they talk about them with their closest friends. When Zondervan sent me a copy of Laura Tremaine’s book, The Life Council; Ten Friends Every Woman Needs, I was struck by just how much friendship, and the different types of friendships, rely on exactly what my children had experienced as essential; communication.
The author organizes the book around ten types of friendships that she finds invaluable; the daily duty friend, the old friend, the business bestie, the fellow obsessive, the battle buddy, the yes friend, the mentor, the empty chair, the new friend, and the soul sister. Ms. Tremain details what these types of friendships look like in her life and how she works to maintain them. The book discusses how communication is part of the work that one must put in in order to maintain these friendships. Ms. Tremain discusses how each of these relationships help form a supportive system for her and serve as her Life Council. The book has closing chapters on the art of making friends, the importance of being a good friend, and how to foster healthy friendships. Everything is peppered with Ms. Tremain’s friendship interactions and leaves the reader feeling like they are sitting alongside her and experiencing them, too.
This book has several possibilities for use in your ministry. Are you looking for a book for a women’s small group book club? This could be an excellent match. Are you looking for chapters to help you and your youth examine Biblical relationships through today’s lenses? This could help. (I’m thinking specifically about David and Jonathan, Priscilla and Paul, and even Job’s ‘friends’.) Pull out a chapter that speaks to the relationship as you read it in the Bible and see how the youth translate that using The Life Council. It could also be an excellent book to keep on a shelf in the room where you have rocking chairs for parents of young children.
