𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌:

👆This was the title of my daily devotion today.

Here are a few quotes from today's devotion:

"𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒....𝐼𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑏 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒?
......𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦"

It immediately resonated with me as I've felt like this a number of times in my life. And it's not easy to put into words and share either. Some people just don't get it - people who are naturally social might find it strange.

As someone to whom small talk doesn't come easy, and who is generally introverted, I have felt alone in a crowd, in church and even among friends many times.

We've been through a season where we have been more alone than ever - isolating, distancing, shielding......and it isn't over yet. Even if we've been safe with our family, we've still been missing friends, extended family, church families, work friends.....and it's not easy. Loneliness can hit us in many forms, in many ways. We are made for different types of relationships - we're mothers/fathers, daughters/sons, friends, sisters/brothers, nieces/nephews, aunts/uncles, grandma's/grandpa's, granddaughters/grandsons, work colleagues....we have different relationships with different people. Yet many aren't able to enjoy all those usual relationships as they once did, and this too brings a void in our lives.

It feels very unnatural to not be free to meet with people, hug people, and even more strange to wear masks in indoor spaces and not see people's facial expressions.

It isn't as easy to meet up with people as it was, keeping our distance, finding somewhere to meet etc. Many people are still cautious, and rightly so, yet this all adds up to many people feeling lonely.

As someone who is usually a bit of a loner, and enjoys their own company, I have started to find this season quite tough. It makes me realise how important interactions are, how important conversations are with different people in our lives. Sometimes a random conversation with an acquaintance can bless us so much, not to mention how joyous a good old chinwag with a close friend is.

I want to encourage you to connect to people. Whether they're your closest friend, or a friend you don't really see much, just reach out and make contact. We were created for fellowship, friendship and relationship, and the mental well-being of many people is suffering in this awful season.

Let's look out for each other, and even if we can't meet up in person, let's make sure people aren't feeling alone - wherever they are. Don't assume that because someone has people around them that they aren't feeling lonely. Even those in a crowd, in a family, in a church, in a circle of people, can feel lonely.