No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending

Scripture reveals a God who meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. No More Faking Fine is your invitation to get honest with God through the life-giving language of lament.  If you've ever been given empty clichés during challenging times, you know how painful it is to be misunderstood by well-meaning people. When life hurts, we often feel pressure--from others and ourselves--to keep it together, suck it up, or pray it away. But Scripture reveals a God who lovingly invites us to give honest voice to our emotions when life hits hard.For most of her life, Esther Fleece Allen believed she could bypass the painful emotions of her broken past by shutting them down altogether. She was known as an achiever and an overcomer on the fast track to success. But in silencing her pain, she robbed herself of the opportunity to be healed. Maybe you've done the same.Esther's journey into healing began when she discovered that God has given us a real-world way to deal with raw emotions and an alternative to the coping mechanisms that end up causing more pain. It's called lament--the gut-level, honest prayer that God never ignores, never silences, and never wastes.No More Faking Fine is your permission to lament, taking you on a journey down the unexpected pathway to true intimacy with God. Drawing from careful biblical study and hard-won insight, Esther reveals how to use God's own language to come closer to him as he leads us through our pain to the light on the other side, teaching you that:We are robbing ourselves of a divine mystery and a divine intimacy when we pretend to have it all togetherGod does not expect us to be perfect; instead, he meets us where we areThere is hope beyond your heartache, disappointment, and griefLike Esther, you'll soon find that when one person stops faking fine, it gives everyone else permission to do the same. Review How we grieve is directly related to how we heal. Esther Fleece introduces the language of lament and argues persuasively that this is a prayer God never ignores. No More Faking Fine is a book for anyone wrestling with the unavoidable tension created when the faithful suffer. -- Andy Stanley, communicator, author, and pastorFor many of us, when someone asks how we?re doing, our automatic response is ?fine?---even when we aren?t. Esther Fleece transparently shares her story of ?faking fine? until she couldn?t anymore---and how God has brought emotional healing as she learned to stop pretending. This is an encouraging and helpful book. -- Jim Daly, president of Focus on the FamilyNo More Faking Fine deepened and solidified my understanding of bringing God into every part of my life, especially when it comes to difficulties and grief. I know this will help heal, challenge, and encourage people wherever they are in life. This is such a needed book for our time! -- Rachel Cruze, #1 New York Times bestselling author and personal finance expertIn a culture full of facades, Esther Fleece unpacks the vital and overlooked role of honest lament in our complete healing from life?s harshest storms. No More Faking Fine leads us on a biblical yet scarcely traveled road, where God meets us in the midst of our deepest pain, in ways unlike any we could possibly experience in our greatest victories. -- Benjamin Watson, National Football League tight end and authorEsther Fleece exposes her personal pain to us in this book. She exposes what that pain did to distort her reality and shift her from truly trusting that God is near. Her pain forced her to the Scriptures, and the Scriptures exposed a way through the pain. This book is a gift to be led through the Word in this way---to be encouraged to give voice to our destructive thoughts and memories, to receive permission to let it all out to God. There is no judgment of our hurt or our painful experiences. All are worthy to be heard by God. Thank you, Esther, for sharing your story and teaching us to be