THE HEART OF SINGLENESS
By Andrea Trevenna
The Good Book Company. 109 pages. £6.99
ISBN 978 1 908 762 856
On a shelf of books about singleness this stands out as it shows us how as single Christian women we can have the satisfaction we long for.
It is no smug self-help book, presenting the ideal but unattainable perfect single life. Andrea’s honesty reassures us that she really does understand our situation and she shows us that it’s only when we get our hearts right that we can truly be content.
It’s hard not to smile as Andrea begins with a chapter on ‘The gift of singleness’ and quickly asks whether this is surely the most unwanted gift! If we listened to the world around us, and also often to the church, we would be likely to say a resounding ‘yes’. Of course we know that what is important is what God says and yet we often struggle to believe that – Andrea explains that the reason for this is because of what is going on in our hearts when we think about singleness: ‘My aim is to help us to look at our hearts, to look at our dreams and loves and hopes and fears about singleness in the light of God’s word’.
A great strength of the book is that when you put it down you feel as if you’ve had a chat with the author (over tea and cake or a glass of wine!) – the warm and funny style makes it very readable. I’d encourage all single Christian women to read it – but it comes with a warning as it is challenging! It forces us to look at our hearts, to see how we can be deceived as we pursue the lie that a husband will make us content, and points us instead towards the one who will never disappoint and wants to be our bridegroom.
