Living Whole Without a Better Half by Wendy Widder

How to live happily ever after if your prince or princess never shows up

There are more singles in--and out of--the church today than ever before. Wendy Widder knows the struggles of being single from the inside out, and she has something to say.While there is no shortage of books about singlehood on the market, Widder's approach is markedly different. In Living Whole Without a Better Half readers study the characters in Hebrews 11. Widder uses these Biblical examples to show readers how to embrace singleness as an abundant life and a God-given gift, not as an unfortunate stage they should move past as quickly as possible. By examining the lives of biblical heroes such as Abraham, Moses, and Jacob, she reveals that trying to bargain with God to follow our plans and timing often keeps us from appreciating the opportunities he places in our path.

Widder makes her case with wit and a wry humor that readers will appreciate and come back to again and again. Now with updated statistics, and a new preface, Living Whole Without a Better Half includes study questions that make it a great Bible study or small group resource.

My review:
  One problem I have with the majority of the singles books on the market, and even on the Christian market, is they assume the reader is going to marry and/or is trying to get married. The books that are written with the idea that the reader may stay single, are rare. This is one such book. 

  The author is single, and knows what she is talking about when she writes about singles. She has been there, and is still there, and that helps when an author is experiencing what they are writing about.

 The book is well written, humorous, and wasn't what I was quite expecting when I got it to review. There are no false assurances of what you can do to find a mate, but it is about how to live in the church and for Christ as a single person, and be fulfilled, not having to feel like you are not complete since you are single. She uses several people from the Bible to get her points across, and the result is a great book that I'd recommend over any of the other books for singles out there.

About the author:

Wendy Widder spent most of her twenties teaching elementary
students and waiting to get married. en she decided life was
happening without her, so she started a collection of graduate
degrees in Bible, theology, and ancient languages. After twelve
years, fi ve advisors, three schools, two states, and two continents,
she emerged from the ivory tower and found herself in
mid-life, learning new ways to live whole without a better half.
She is also the author of A Match Made in Heaven: How Singles
and the Church Can Live Happily Ever After (Kregel, 2003) and
a book she coauthored with her father to help Christian teachers
integrate a biblical worldview into their courses. Wendy blogs at
wendywidder.com.

Living Whole Without a Better Half is available from Kregel Publishing.

Thanks to Kregel for the review copy.