A Friend in Me: Building Trust with the Next Generation of Women

Teacher and author Lau (Soul Strength) proposes a way of reinvigorating communal Christian life for older women while also providing a powerful model and resource for younger women of faith to draw on. Lau believes that younger Christian women seek closeness with those further along the path, while older women send negative messages that keep younger women from that closeness. To bridge this gap in communication, Lau prescribes comfort, understanding, forgiveness, and compassion, and shows how loving friendships that include deep conversations facilitate connection between generations. Lau is open in sharing her own struggles and the life experiences that have led her to advocate the process she proposes here. She highlights sex, friendships, and work as three areas of life that are persistently misunderstood across generations. Many Biblical references make the book most useful for those women with strong knowledge of scripture, but the case studies and techniques will be useful to any Christian woman interested in intergenerational relationships. (June)