Sheltering Trees: The Power, Promise, and Refuge of Friendship [With CD]

This is a wonderful book to read for yourself and to give as a gift to your friends. The individual stories range from long-term friendships developed as young adults, to those formed in later years of life that may have only lasted for a "season". The one thing each of these friendships have in common is a deep love and respect for each other, as well as for God. I found the stories to be touching, inspiring and in some instances incredibly humorous, just like friendships are in real life. This book gave me the opportunity to reflect back on my own friendships over the years and to see how God has moved in me to bring some incredible "sheltering trees" into my life. I highly recommend this book.

Friends are not something to be taken for granted and successful people can always testify to the importance of those few special people that motivate, comfort and inspire them to be the best they can be. In Donna Van Liere's Sheltering Trees, interviews from people like Zig Ziglar, Randy Travis and a host of Christian music movers and shakers remind us how meaningful those rare but necessary friendships are. This book is filled with short stories of those special friendships and how God works in our lives to make those connections. Sheltering Trees is also filled with inspirational quotes that help us all reflect on what it means to have a friend and more importantly, how gratifying it is to be a friend.

This is the perfect book to share with those special friends in your life. I truly enjoyed reading the inspiring stories of people ranging from Randy Travis and Arthur Ashe to Rebecca St. James and Zig Ziglar. Included with the book, is a CD of the wonderful song "Sheltering Tree". The lyrics to the song are scattered throughout the chapters which further adds to the stirring and thoughtful tone of the book. I plan to continue to give this as a gift to the "sheltering trees" in my life.

I found this book to be very encouraging to me during a time of trouble with a friend. I would also highly recommend it as a gift for a close friend.

"Sheltering Trees" was bought for me as a gift from a good friend. I initially thumbed through the pages without a thought of immediately reading it, but the story about tennis great Arthur Ashe arrested my attention and compelled me to read it all in one setting. The anecdotes presented throughout the book are intriguing, heartwarming, and definitely provide insight into the complex and unselfish nature of friendship. Anyone who reads this will be blessed by tales of one of the most desperately needed relationships in life - true friendship.