Top Ten Quotes: Transformative Friendships
Simply put, my friend and co-worker Brad Hambrick is a gift to the local church. A counselor by trade and training, he believes in the concept of “showing your work,” and has helped untold numbers of churches, pastors, and counselors implement new or better processes for life change.
That’s why I’m particularly excited about his new Church-Based Counseling Series from New Growth Press. The first two books in the series – Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling and Facilitating Counseling Groups – have been joined by the third and final book in the series, Transformative Friendships: 7 Questions to Deepen Any Relationship.
If you’re not a counselor, never fear: this third book is for all of us. Brad takes seven simple questions that help us dive a bit deeper in meaningful friendship. Asking things like What’s Your Story? What’s Good? What’s Hard? What’s Bad? And What’s Next? will undoubtedly take many of our relationships to the next level.
Written in his winsome and ever-practical style, Brad does the work of a master strategist, walking us carefully through the seven questions – each with five sub-questions – that help us get past the fluff and into depth.
Here are my top ten favorite quotes:
- Ironically, if this book is going to change your life, you won’t think about it that often. We’re teaching friendship as a lifestyle, not as a skill.
- [O]ur goal: simple questions producing friendships that enrich our lives a little more each day.
- [From What’s Your Story?]: Being known creates a sense of freedom to talk and a confidence that we’ll be understood.
- [From What’s Good?]: The more we see the good in each other, the more motivated we will be to forsake the bad.
- [From What’s Hard?]: Christians often default to interpreting hard as bad because it would be clearer to identify how Jesus is the answer if hard were bad.
- [From What’s Bad?]: If we want friendship to transform our lives, we must be willing to talk about our sin. We must own the bad.
- [From What’s Fun?]: The things that bring us joy provide a unique window into our lives. We are usually the most transparent in our joy.
- [From What’s Stuck?]: …ruts are habits drained of life, like faded drapes exposed to the sun for too long.
- [From What’s Next?]: …dreams without friendship die the death of good intentions. If you have a goal and speak of it to no one, what usually happens? A little enthusiasm followed by nothing.
- This book is not a recipe for meaningful relationships. Instead, it’s a melody for friendships that can transform your life.
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Disclaimer: While most of my “Top Ten Quotes” books are chosen without influence from the author, this post is different. I received a free copy of Transformative Friendships from the author, along with a request to review and/or feature the book in a blog post. So there. Further, if you order a resource from a link on any “Top Ten Quotes” page, I may receive a small affiliate commission from Amazon. If that bugs you, feel free to bypass my link and buy from a vendor of your choice. But still: buy it. I only promote books that have benefitted me and that I believe will benefit you.
