Lean On Me by Anne Marie Miller

From the publisher:

Life has a way of throwing unexpected obstacles in our path, tripping us up, and bringing us to our knees. When these crises hit, who do you call? Who do you lean on? Anne Marie Miller found herself in one of these valleys on the floor of a hotel bathroom while on a business trip. Months of stress accumulated and took its toll. In a moment of desperation, she picked up the phone and called a friend for guidance. That simple phone call was the first step in a transforming journey of evaluating what community truly meant and looked like in her life.

We live in a world and a generation where the word “community” is often discussed. But how genuine and authentic are your relationships really? Anne Marie noticed an important tension all of us must recognize in order to have life-giving friendships: “We desperately want to belong yet at the same time, we yearn for independence.”

In Lean On Me, Anne Marie Miller takes us along as she sets out to dig below the superficial and explore what choices are necessary to find intentional, vulnerable, and consistent community. Jesus was passionate about truth-speaking relationships. And with Anne Marie’s narrative and practical insights interwoven together, you will feel more equipped in your quest for these types of relationships as you seek people to lean on and as you pour love into those around you

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This is an incredible book. The first thing that clued me in was that I had to put down this book and I was eager to go back to it.  This is not unusual for a fiction story but for a non-fiction, non-story book this was unusual.  And I could sit for hours and read it. I just soaked in each chapter.  Underlining and marking up the words as they spoke to me.  Anne Marie Miller draws the reader into her book with candid language that will stir the heart.   

She tells her own heart in this book and in return I felt that my heart was open and honest in my need for community and my own conversation with God.  There were many times that I felt like I was reading what my own heart has said.  

Anne Marie Miller not only discusses the need for our commitment and vulnerability to others but also with God.  Both aspects of life are vital.  She shares truth over and over again that will challenge you and help you on the journey to intentional, vulnerable, and consistent community with God and others.  

 I will be re-reading this again to soak up the words and begin to really apply them to my community. There is also a study guide in the back for further study which I will be using my second time around.  This is a book to read, and re-read, and apply each time.  

This is the first work of Anne Marie Miller that I have read, but I can guarantee that it won't be the last.  I have already put her other books on my "Wish List." 

I received this book free from BookLookBloggers in exchange for my honest review.