17 October 2019

Some days I survey the list of chores and jobs I have to do and it is overwhelming. I never seem to get to that pile of mending. To clean out the fridge and freezer. Go through that linen closet. Where does the day go? Something always seems to come up that is more important, more necessary right now. Thank God I’m busy!

Then I don’t notice the loneliness as much. The lack of true girlfriends, those true “heart to hearts” you miss from your sisters, your daughters.

Now don’t go soppy on me. I have nothing to be ungrateful for. Nothing that a good dose of God friendship wouldn’t fix. My husband tries, but girls, you know it’s not the same. It’s just lots of different circumstances have moved me away from family and friends, and this is where I am now.

I think from the beginning of time, God has put this ‘sisterhood’ in us that needs nurturing. I’ve come to realise that the world does not teach about friendship. About cheering on the other women in your life, the other people in your life, that they can be all they are meant to be. There is no competition! Nobody is the best. We are all gifted and placed in different walks of life, different cultures, have different visions and plans for our lives. We are not all the same. And again, thank God for that.

Some are passionate about caring for children, others saving the environment.
Some are high powered, intelligent businesswomen and men who are conquering their field of expertise. Thank God for that too.

But I feel all of us need other women in our lives to be our cheer squad, calling us on to be better women.

Loneliness is an epidemic for our time in history. So many people are lonely and have no one. We need to fill in that gap – share, love, talk, care.

I watched a few programs about Ambulance and Paramedics based in the United Kingdom and Australia. So many people are lonely. Unwell yes, but oh so lonely. So many sicker because of loneliness!

Let us stop this ‘sickness,’ let us not ‘kill’ each other as sisters with gossip, hatred, ridicule, competition, often using social media to share ‘our opinion’ but not caring who we are hurting.

It is such a hurting world.

Let us love one another as HE has loved us. No greater love is there than to lay one’s life down for a friend. Yes, He did that for us, even while we were still sinners and not his friend.

Let us forgive, give the benefit of the doubt, treat others like we would like to be treated. This is God’s way! His kingdom come. Do we really mean this when we pray this line in the Our Father?

You know God’s Kingdom is upside down to many of the beliefs in this world … the first will be last and the last will be first … humble yourself and you will be lifted up.

Oh so easy to say but hard to do at times.

What about the woman who said she would come and help me when Bruce was away, and I was ready and waiting and she did not come? I went to bed saddened. Should I hold a grudge and not trust what she says next time. No.
For how many times have we said to someone we must catch up for coffee and don’t. No different.

I need to see the plank in my eye and not the splinter in hers.

Again, not so easy to do.

I need to see with Christ’s eyes and heart. He voiced his heart on the cross while dying. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Oh, it brings tears to my eyes. What forgiveness! What love expressed! My sinful nature so often comes to the fore and I really need the Holy Spirit to whisper to me – the right way to act, to feel, to believe. If God could love me that much, can I not love others too?

I need other women in my life who will hold me accountable and encourage me to take that narrow but oh so good path.

His love for me draws more love out of me for others. His love transforms me, changes me. To be more loving, more forgiving, more gracious to others.

God dispenses ‘new mercies every morning’ for me, so why can’t I do that for others. Every day a new fresh start.

So, in the busyness of my chores and life, may I put aside time to spend with other women. To talk, to share. To let them talk and share and build each other up. Make the time.

Oh, what a better world we would live in.

I’m starting a Small Group of women again who want to share of themselves about what God is doing in their lives. A place of encouragement and nurturing. We can all do this. Yes, some more gifted than others, but we are all capable.

Who wants to do this with me?

Let’s not just save the planet. Not just stop plastic polluting our world. Let us stop loneliness! Ask someone to join you. Start a conversation. Let’s care about people. Go to them and love them, talk with them. Let’s do this.

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love always

Rosemary