Life Changes!

So many changes—Moving, giving up treasures, losing friends, making new friends, adjusting to new situations. Then add in a new season and the changes the body experiences as one ages! Growing older is not for the faint of heart, it requires perseverance!!

Sometimes in these changes one feels lost, or a little depressed or alone! Maybe you just wish things could be like they were before.

Perhaps it helps to consider, in these times, you may be grieving. We grieve many losses in life. And just realizing that helps one to cope. It takes time for the mind and emotions to catch up with all the changes. We must learn patience with ourselves! Remember:

Invite God into your aloneness.

St. Augustine diagnosed the situation of many lonely people. He knew from personal experience what it meant to be far from family. Speaking to God, he said, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” In the quiet of your alone time, allow God to fill that loneliness with His presence and peace. God draws especially near to us when we come close to Him. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Reach out to others.

It is true, when we reach out to befriend or encourage someone else our own loneliness starts to dissipate. Then an amazing thing happens—as we reach out to others, we tend to forget our own struggles. We discover that we are not the only ones who have felt alone. As we enjoy conversation and laughter together it pours healing balm upon one’s soul for “a cheerful heart is good medicine” (Prov. 17:22).

With you in this journey, Sherree Lane, Campus Pastor