Picking Up the Pieces: Recovering from Broken Relationships

A broken romantic relationship can wreck lives and is especially painful if you didn’t want it to end. Here is relief to lead you from heartache to a healthier relationship with Christ.

As I read though Losing that Lovin' Feeling, I flashed back to the summer after my senior year in college, when the girl I'd dated for three years wrote to tell me that our relationship was over― she'd met someone new whom she intended to marry. For weeks, I'd get sick to my stomach when I tried to eat. I did whatever I could to avoid being alone. I dreamed about happier times and awakened in the morning wishing I could go on dreaming. I wondered if I would ever love anyone again. I wish I'd had Lou Priolo's book back then to help me get my focus back where it belonged - on God's word and His perfect plan for my life. God used that break-up in my life to help me see that the woman I loved had replaced Him and had become an idol in my life. Ultimately, He used that trial as He does with all trials in our lives - to perfect us and make us more like Christ. That's what this book is all about. Whether you've experienced being abandoned by someone who once promised 'til death do us part, or you feel empty inside because someone you thought would always be there has left you, God is your strength! As you read through this book, you'll find the hope, the peace and the joy that God has promised are the fruit of a growing relationship with Him. -- Bob Lepine, cohost, FamilyLife Today

Here you have a book about a problem that no one wants to acknowledge exists: the break-up of Christian relationships. With his typical straightforward, God-centered approach, Priolo has assembled 31 studies that will help you get to the heart of your sorrow. These thoroughly biblical, thoughtfully practical, Christ-honoring studies will help you regain your perspective and see your Savior: He's a Suffering Servant offering grace to His suffering children. -- Elyse Fitzpatrick, author, Idols of the Heart, Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety

Relationships bring us the greatest joy in life . . . and the greatest pain. Lou Priolo has done a masterful job of applying God’s Word to the anger and agony that flow from broken relationships. He also shows us how to find healing and hope through Jesus Christ, so that we can go on to love others more deeply and freely than we ever imagined. -- Ken Sande, President, Peacemaker Ministries

Do you know someone who has experienced the pain of a broken relationship? Is that person nursing loneliness and resentment instead of getting on with the rest of his or her life? Maybe that someone is you? If so, Lou Priolo’s book is full of practical, solidly biblical advise that will help you to move past the hurt to be the kind of person that God wants you to be. Losing that Lovin’ Feeling addresses topics like fear, loneliness, forgiveness, and self-pity. The author writes in an engaging style that blends just the right amount of humor with the unapologetic proclamation of God’s Word, I strongly recommend it. -- James MacDonald, senior pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel

Picking Up the Pieces addresses a real counseling issue (the breakup of romantic relationships) in a remarkable way. In 31 short chapters (each designed to be read on a different day of the month) Lou Priolo helps hurting people learn to apply the Bible to the specific issues common to such breakups. Practical, devotional, and most of all biblical, copies of this book should be in every counselor’s toolbox. -- Jay E. Adams, author, speaker, seminary professor

As the Biblical counseling movement continues its rapid growth in size and maturity, it is encouraging to see a growing library of practical counseling aids such as this. Lou Priolo has once again tackled a specific issue with insight and depth that can shave weeks off the time required for counseling the heart-broken person. If someone you love has abandoned you, you can find helpful Biblical suggestions for dealing with the anger, hurt, bitterness, and sense of loss in the studies Lou has provided. I suggest reading and digesting a chapter a day for 31 straight days of intensive self-confrontation. Do the assignments; make the commitment of time and energy. At the end of that time, you may find that you are well on your way toward healing. I suspect that many Biblical counselors will be assigning this book in the years ahead. -- Ed Bulkley, president, International Association of Biblical Counselors

Lou Priolo is the director of biblical counseling at Valleydale Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and the founder and president of Competent to Counsel International. A full-time biblical counselor since 1985, Lou is a fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. He lives in Birmingham with his wife, Kim, and daughters, Sophia and Gabriella.