The New Loneliness By Cindi McMenamin

The New Loneliness by Cindi McMenamin has come at the perfect time. Presently going through some different changes in life and shifting of environment this was encouraging and timely. I really enjoyed the layout of this book. Broken up into three sections focusing on reconnect with God, your heart, and others was a great focus. Each chapter had questions to go along with and lots of scripture to look up that went with each chapter. Also, a challenge to help you grow. Which is great tool for if you are going through loneliness. The content was pretty good. I was encouraged and felt like I was not alone in this season of life. I feel that anyone could glean something from this book. With self-help books, I am all about picking up what is useful to me in this season and leaving the stuff that is not as helpful. So, I don’t have anything negative to say, because I left what was not relevant to me on the table for others to gather from. My focus was not really focused on theological content. I am still working those things out for myself, so as always, there could be things that I don’t see eye to eye on, but I can overlook those minor things for a great harvest. Some of my favorite parts. I loved when she talked about how she calls her friend Armor Bearer- because she defends, encourages, prays and helps carry what is too heavy to carry alone. I love that description. What a perfect picture of friendship. That we are called to be each other’s armor bearers. But not everyone is qualified for that job. Cindi also touches on different kinds of friends and how in her other book she describes 5 types, but only talks about the 2 important ones-faithful friends and faith-filled friends. Sometimes a person can be both, but not very often, and to hold dear to those that are both. Through it all I was encouraged to self-reflect on myself and see if I am being that for others. I have also been reading the book of Job, which has been the perfect pairing with this book. Lots of reflection and examples to draw from. *I received a complimentary copy from the author and voluntarily chose to review it. All opinions are my own.