Suburban life—including tract homes, strip malls, commuter culture—shapes our desires.More than half of Americans live in the suburbs. Ashley Hales writes that for many Christians, however: ‘The suburbs are ignored ('Your place doesn't matter, we're all going to heaven anyway'), denigrated and demeaned ('You're selfish if you live in a suburb; you only care about your own safety and advancement'), or seen as a cop-out from a faithful Christian life ('If you really loved God, you'd move to Africa or work in an impoverished area'). In everything from books to Hollywood jokes, the suburbs aren't supposed to be good for our souls.’ What does it look like to live a full Christian life in the suburbs? Suburbs reflect our good, God-given desire for a place to call home. And suburbs also reflect our own brokenness. This book is an invitation to look deeply into your soul as a suburbanite and discover what it means to live holy there.
Table of Content
Foreword by Emily P. Freeman
Introduction: A Story to Find Home in the Geography of Nowhere
1. Worshiping Granite Countertops: Consumerism
2. When Your Worth Is Measured in Square Footage: Individualism
3. Circling the Suburbs in My Minivan: Busyness
4. Beyond the Gated Community: Safety
5. Where the Sidewalk Ends: Repentance
6. You’re Not a Barbie, You Belong: Belovedness
7. This Isn’t Pinterest-Worthy Entertaining: Hospitality
8. Open Hearts and Open Hands: Generosity
9. The Opportunity of Cul-de-sacs: Vulnerability
10. Paper Birds and Human Flourishing: Shalom
Conclusion: Coming Home
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
Notes
About the author
Ashley Hales (Ph D, University of Edinburgh) is editorial director, print for Christianity Today. She is the author of Finding Holy in the Suburbs and A Spacious Life, and her work focuses on the surprising and renewing work of a Christian imagination. She is a Kirby Laing Centre Academic Fellow, an advisor to the Covenant College board of trustees, and a cofounder of The Willowbrae Institute. Ashley lives on the central coast of California with her husband Bryce and their four children.
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