Loneliness & the Single Mom: By Jennifer MaggioSample

Mom, your God is going to supply all your needs, even godly friendships!

Admittedly, during times of stress or despair or particularly weighty moments, I have found myself responding to friends or family with an exasperated, “All I can do is pray about it.” All I can do is pray about it? How trite! Man, how we need to shift perspective to understand that prayer changes things. We don’t have to worry or fret about our future or our friendships. There is power in prayer. It shifts the atmosphere. It moves the heart of God. Prayer is the first thing we should be doing. And the things that concern us concern the Lord. He cares for us and the burdens of our heart. Prayer gives us a heavenly mindset, where God can reveal things to us about ourselves and others.

Step 5 to overcoming loneliness as a single mom: Pray about it!

Pray about your loneliness. Ask the Lord to bring godly friends your way. Ask the Lord for opportunities to be a godly friend to someone else. And . . . this part is hard to say (write) and maybe even harder to hear (read), pray about ways we can work on ourselves to be easier to be friends with. Sometimes, we aren’t included in invitations or social gatherings because we are hard to be around. Maybe because of previous pain, unresolved trauma, a heart wound, or lack of social skills, we are combative, loud, know-it-alls, self-absorbed, bitter, complain-y, lack listening skills, or other things. We need to pray and ask the Lord if there’s anything in our heart that does not align with His word or hinders us from forming strong, meaningful friendships.

He loves us enough to reveal to us the areas that we need to work on when they do exist. And then, we must do the hard work of being honest with ourselves and improving in those areas.

As we finish our time together, I also want to remind you that the lonely season can be a refining season that shapes you for your next season. There are times when we walk through loneliness to strengthen us, to slow us down so we have more time with the Lord, and to teach us hidden truths from His word. I’m praying for you that the Lord would restore all that was lost from a previous season and that with boldness, confidence, and tenacity, you pursue new friends in this season.

Points to Ponder:

• Have there been times when you knew you were the result of a lost friendship? Have you worked on yourself since then?
• To learn more about where you are anchored, join Single Mom University, absolutely free of charge. Simply visit www.SingleMomUniversity.com and fill out a scholarship application and mention YouVersion.
• To foster friendships, surround yourself with Christian single moms who are in a similar life season. To find a single moms’ group near you, find one on The Life of a Single Mom’s national single mom group map HERE.