Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Being Alone

I'm at our daughter Erin's house as I write this week. I came down on Wednesday with our other daughter, Allison. On Thursday I drove her to Kansas City so she can spend a few days at WorldCon and enjoy some time with twitter friends, assorted authors, publishers, and many science fiction fans.

I was pretty excited about the chance to get away and have some alone time before I came a couple of days ago. I dragged along multiple projects to work on since I knew Erin would be working at school during the day as she gets ready to teach next week.

I have been working on things, but I was really surprised to find myself lonely on Thursday afternoon. I hadn't even had a full day to myself and I was missing my husband and my kids. Of course, I love them, but I figured I would really revel in the alone time for at least a couple of days before heading back to life as usual.

This couldn't apply to me, could it? :-)

It got me thinking about others who live alone every day. I have friends who are widows and widowers. Blake will live alone in his dorm room this year. Erin lives alone here in Shenandoah. Some of my friends are single adults. I find myself wondering how lonely they are. 

In my situation this week, I at least have the comfort that Erin will come home from working at school and we can spend some time together before the day is over. Other people have no one coming home at night. It must be a hard life.

Moms who live at home with a husband and one or more children can sometimes feel overwhelmed by all of the demands on their time, but this little break is helping me to be thankful for what I have. I love my husband and kids, they are gifts from God that add richness to my life.

For those who live alone, I think it must be very important for them to be deliberate about connecting with others. It would be nice if people reached out to them, but it's probably even more important for them to reach out when they're lonely. They can call other single people, call family members, join clubs, attend a church where they can build good relationships with others.

Most of all, remember this:

Jesus is with us every second of every day. When we start to feel lonely (and I think many people can even feel that way in the middle of a crowd) we need to remember that God loves us and He's with us.

I'm heading back home on Sunday, but I'll cherish the "lonely" times I've had this week as they've taught me to recognize God's presence with me. 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9 NIV)

Do you ever feel lonely?How can focusing on God help you to feel better and give you ideas for reconnecting with Him and with others?