Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Finding Joy in a Season of Loneliness





At various points in my journey through beautiful girlhood, I have
experienced loneliness and I can testify to how difficult it can be to find hope…

 I would like to write and encourage other young ladies who may
be in a similar season, to assure them that there is indeed hope
and also rich blessing for them, even though they feel
so alone just now.  A season never lasts forever…




From what I have observed in my life, and also in the lives of other
daughters at home, being lonely is very common.

I am fortunate in that I have sisters and even though we are not very close in age,
I am thankful for their sweet companionship and
I count myself blessed to have them in my life.

My mother is also a rich blessing and I appreciate her
sweet friendship, Godly wisdom and advice.
I love this quote by Mabel Hale, the author of Beautiful Girlhood:

“The safest girl is the one who makes her mother her most confidential friend.”




“And be not conformed to this world:  but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  Romans 12:2

Loneliness often leads to discontentment, and discontentment
only steals our joy and causes bitterness and resentment to take root. 

Loneliness is real, but we constantly need to seek the Lord on how to
overcome our feelings and find joy in the life He has blessed us with.
 

 Dear sisters, we are incredibly blessed to be daughters at home! 

We have so much to be thankful for!

This path we have decided to walk is not for the faint hearted,
nor is this journey all pleasant.
But if we choose to cling to our Saviour and embrace the season He has placed us in,
we will find a joy that is uncontainable and truly beautiful.


I believe Jesus knows and understands our loneliness. 
Cry out to Him each day and tell Him of the pain you are experiencing
in your heart and ask Him to comfort and uphold you…

Pray that He will send a special friend along your path who will be a
Godly mentor, and encourage you in your journey to Biblical womanhood.
Our alternative beliefs often separate us from young people of our own age and
while we know that the Bible is clear about us being different to the world,
it is not always easy when you feel like you are the only one pursuing His calling!

Having many friends of your own age is not always good,
especially if they don’t share common interests or beliefs.

They might cause you to become more discontented with your life.
Or you may become jealous of them and the exciting things that they’re able to do…
Perhaps you may even be tempted to join them…?

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:  but because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  John 15:19




Rather surround yourself with like-minded women who will be a
good influence and who will impart wisdom and Truth into your life.

These women may be much older than you, but never doubt
the rich level of friendship they can offer…
I have a handful of dear older ladies who have been a wonderful blessing in
my life at many different times and I am so grateful for them!



I do not have many friends of my own age, but the two or three I do have are
young ladies who share similar beliefs and are committed to serving the Lord…
Although we seldom see each other, we enjoy encouraging one another in the faith
through letters or messages…

During quiet times in our lives, it is very easy to become lonely. 
But wait upon the Lord, dear friends!  You are not alone and there is hope!

May I encouraged you to take those destructive thoughts captive
and to choose joy in the midst of this season?

My prayer is that you will you will draw closer to the
Lord during this season that you are in, as I found myself doing…




…As I began to embrace the quietness about me, I found hope and rest
in my Saviour’s amazing and perfect plan for me and a wonderful joy followed.
He has a special plan for your life and He loves and cares for you

I pray that you will find joy in the right places – in serving God through serving others.

Loneliness is something you constantly have to surrender to the Lord,
and joy is something you consciously have to choose each day, but it is oh, so worth it!

This hard place in which you perhaps find yourself is the very place
in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him,
to spend time in prayer, and to learn long-suffering,
gentleness, meekness, - in short, to learn the depths of the
love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us.”

~ Elisabeth Elliot


Paintings by Jessie Wilcox Smith 

  ~

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I just linked up next to you on the Art of Homemaking Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth, so you are my link party neighbour!

I very much agree with what you say about having friends of different ages. Most of my closest friends are twenty years older than me and I really appreciate their wisdom, experience and different outlook on life.

Best wishes from England!

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Hello Kelly-Anne,
I too agree with you about having friends of different ages. My crochet group at church the women are older than me but we all learn so much from each other! You are very wise for your age! So glad you're close with your mom and the rest of your family. Enjoy the rest of the week!
Julie xo

Anonymous said...

Sweet friend! This post was so timely! It has been quite a while since I have had a close friend in real life, with the exception of some wonderful blogging friends. And this post was absolutely just beautiful and so encouraging. Thank you so much for sharing it today!

Thank you as well for your kind comment on my blog this morning- I always love hearing from you and your visits are always such a delight!! Hope the rest of your week is lovely and blessed! Sending you a hug <3

Lots of love to you!

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

I really enjoyed this Kelly-Anne. You are very wise for your age. I loved this line, "Having many friends of your own age is not always good, especially if they don’t share common interests or beliefs." She understands this, but it is nice to read it from a young lady that is older than she is. I'm going to read this post to my daughter. xoxo Su

Debby Ray said...

Beautiful post, Kelly-Anne...I never really heard much about the stay at home daughter until reading the blogs recently. I do think it is a lovely thing. It is so very refreshing to see young ladies these days feeling the call to do this, especially in this crazy society that we live in today! Blessings, to you, sweet friend!

Paige said...

Thanks for sharing these words! This is a good reminder. I have experienced loneliness myself. I have found the Lord to bring friendship in unexpected places as well...it's almost like He has given it to me where I wasn't looking!
The Elizabeth Elliot quote you chose is great! :)

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Oh my, Kelly Anne! You have a lot of wisdom and could send this in to be published. It is so well written and inspirational. What a sweet daughter you must be. I'm glad we are friends. Hugs, Diane

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for these lovely words, Kelly-Anne! I have often felt lonely on my path to Heaven as I only know a few girls who are trying to live Godly lives, and pretty much all of my friends from childhood have abandoned that path. You are so blesses to have sisters; I'm the only girl in my family with four brothers! My two younger brothers who live at home with me are my best friends and I love them, but I've always wanted a sister and have found myself "adopting" all the little girls I know =).
What you said about friends not having to be your age is soooo absolutely true!!! The best friends I've ever had have been much older than me...
I'ts encouraging to know I'm not the only one who feels this way...Thank you again for all your lovely posts!

Mari said...

This is a wonderful post, filled with so much wisdom. I think it will be helpful to many!

CherylQuilts said...

What a sweet and precious post, dear Kelly-Anne! And I so agree with what you've shared. We all (no matter our age) endure times of loneliness...times even where God seems distant. However, we know He has not gone anywhere. I thank Him for the quiet times, the lonely times, and the times of great joy. And I thank Him for the wonderful women of ALL ages (even one as young as you) who make a difference in my life...for the sake of Christ and to help me grow to be closer to Him and to be more and more like Him! Tender hugs, dear and precious friend!

Anonymous said...

Kelly-Anne, I was very blessed with a mother who was my best friend. My late mother was visually impaired most of my life and we lived and loved every moment together. Growing up, I had many more older women as friends. Through blogging, I have met women of all ages from all over the world, but we all serve the Lord and have common interests. Such a blessing!

Ashleigh said...

Thank you so much, Kelly Anne for sharing these wise thoughts.
We are indeed blessed to be daughters at home~ and need to see the blessings in each season the Lord sends us.
I have just found your blog and am enjoying it very much. It's lovely to have other like minded ladies to "visit" and be uplifted by.
Have a blessed day!
Ashleigh