This entire year on (in)courage, we’ve been focusing on the subject of friendship. You’ve shared your stories and we’ve shared ours. We’ve mostly laughed together but also shed a few tears. You’ve told us about your friendship successes and your friendship break-ups. Through blog posts, videos, books, Bible studies (both online and in-person) and (in)real life meetups, we’ve tackled this hard, messy, wonderful topic of friendship — through the lens of Jesus.

It’s not the easiest topic, but what we learned is that friendship is a necessity. Not just to have good friends, but to be a good friend. To be a good friend when it’s easy, but also when life is rough. To even be a good friend when we aren’t feeling it in return. To go first and put ourselves out there when we aren’t even sure if the other person will respond. We’ve learned that, while friendship can be scary, the reward of both having a friend and being a friend, is invaluable.

In 2017, for the first time, the (in)courage community developed and published some of our own resources on the subject of friendship and we are so proud of them! And right now, when you use the code FRIDAY17 on DaySpring.com these beautiful books are only $9.79! We’d love it if you’d consider sharing them with your old friends, new friends, family friends — all of your friends — this Christmas season.

Craving Connection: 30 Challenges for Real-Life Engagement

We all long for meaningful relationships, the Colossians 3:14 kind that fulfill our desire for unity and connection with God, our friends, and our community. But where do we start?

Craving Connection is a journey with (in)courage writers sharing real-life stories, practical Scripture application, and connection challenges that will encourage you to:

• Embrace the desire God has given each of us for connection.
• Invest in meaningful relationships, right where God has you.
• Become the friend you wish you had.

The (in)courage community invites you to grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair to the table, and commit to creatively and prayerfully fulfilling your cravings for connection. How could your life be different after prayerfully and intentionally connecting with God, friends, and your community?

{Use the code FRIDAY17 today and get Craving Connection for only $9.79 on Dayspring.com…the lowest price we’ve ever seen it for!}

Never Unfriended: The Secret to Finding and Keeping Lasting Friendship

In a world where women can unfriend each other with the swipe of a finger, how do we find friendships that we can trust to last? Maybe by first becoming those kinds of lasting friends ourselves.

As the community manager of (in)courage since 2010, Lisa-Jo Baker has had the chance to engage hundreds of conversations with women about friendship. She’s learned that no one can make us quite as unsure about ourselves as another woman. And nothing can wound as deeply as unkind words from a friend. While we are all hungry for friendship, it’s the fear of feeling awkward and being rejected, left out, or hurt (again) that often keep us from connecting.

But what if we knew we could never be unfriended? Would we risk friendship then?

Starting with that guarantee from the most faithful friend who ever lived — Jesus — this book is a step-by-step guide to friendships you can trust. It answers the questions that lurk under the surface of every friendship — What are we afraid of? What can’t we change? What can we change? And where do we start? — with personal stories and practical tips to help you make the friends, and be the friend, that lasts.

{Right now, Never Unfriended is available at Dayspring.com for only $9.79 when you use the code FRIDAY17… we’ve never seen this kind of deal!}

Thank you for exploring friendship throughout the year with us. We have learned from each other, inspired each other, and developed some pretty amazing online and (in)real life friendships. And that is definitely something to be thankful for.

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