– By Dianne Waggoner
When I read the headline, America Has an Epidemic of Loneliness, I was intrigued by it. Partly because I was suffering from a bad case of loneliness, and Lexi, my dog, hadn’t been her rambunctious self since her brother, Sammy, had died. I had moved over a thousand miles from my friends, and Lexi had lost her best friend.
As I read the article, I discovered some of the causes of the epidemic. The study found that people spent less time with each other in person across the age groups than two decades ago. Not only that but within the U.S., participation in community organizations—from faith groups to recreational leagues—has declined in recent decades. “So, we’re seeing more forces that take us away from one another and fewer of the forces that used to bring us together. It’s hard to put a price tag, if you will, on the amount of human suffering people are experiencing right now. In the last few decades, we’ve lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, and we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact and how we talk to each other. And you can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you because loneliness is about the quality of your connections,” according to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphey.
Social media has become a replacement for in-person relationships, resulting in lower-quality connections. You can like someone’s achievement on Facebook or LinkedIn, but it is different from patting them on the back and saying with a smile, good job, I knew you could do it. Texting an emoji hug can never replace the value of a real hug. FaceTime calls are a great way to communicate but can never replace talking in person.
The article also revealed that loneliness is a serious health risk, which is unsurprising. God stated in the Garden of Eden, “It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). He created us with a need for each other. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the risk of premature death caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day is equivalent to the loneliness risk factor, which shortens one’s life by eight years. According to research, the physical consequences of poor connection can be devastating, including a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. A 2022 paper from Johns Hopkins University also found that socially isolated older adults had a heightened chance of developing dementia compared to their peers.
The headline that caught my eye continued to weigh on my mind. If I was lonely, others living in my neighborhood might be lonely, too. If I was at risk of shortening my life, I wanted to change that scenario. Thomas Cudjoe, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, stated, “Social connections matter for our cognitive health, and the risk of social isolation is potentially modifiable for older adults.” I wanted to modify my situation and my neighbors. One morning, while I was walking Lexi, God gave me an idea that impacted the loneliness epidemic in my subdivision. After I became friends with those living in my cul-de-sac, I asked if they would be interested in helping start a once-a-month luncheon. We devised a successful plan that turned a small group of lonely strangers into forty-two friends. A few ladies visited my church, and several began to text concerns for me to put on my prayer list. I had the opportunity to share my faith story with a few, but God’s love with everyone. It wasn’t long before I moved again. I keep in touch with my friends, and I am happy to hear that the lunch group is still meeting and that new people are coming.
Maybe a recent headline has caught your attention, or perhaps a Bible passage weighs on your heart; when that happens, consider if God is calling you to do more than reflect on it. Recently, while reading the story of the woman at the well in John 4, I was intrigued by how God orchestrated the events that changed lives. Most Jews on their way to Galilee would have taken a different route, but Jesus stated he must go through Samaria. He didn’t tell the disciples why, but he had a God-ordained appointment at noon to meet a lonely lady. Her choice to draw water from the well at the hottest part of the day reveals several things about her personal life. She was avoiding interaction with other women who probably called her hateful names. Because she was living with a boyfriend and had been married five times, other women did not want to be near her for fear she would destroy their families, too. Jesus saw an opportunity to share his love with the lonely woman. Not only did he change her life, but the lives of many Samaritans from that town.
If you feel called to reach lonely ladies for the Lord in your neighborhood, here is a list of steps that you can use.
1. Adopt this ministry objective: Accept God’s call to reach the lonely with his love to facilitate a change in someone’s physical, mental, and spiritual health.
2.. Start with what ladies you know and encourage them to invite their next-door neighbor. Lexi and I varied our walking times and our routes to meet ladies. Lexi even found two new dog friends, Frazier and Missy, who were lonely, too.
3. Create a name for your group. We chose a name associated with our subdivision. Our group name was the Wedgewood Lakeside Ladies because our subdivision had a lake.
4. Select a set time for the monthly luncheon. We chose 11:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month unless it was a holiday week, in which case it was the second Thursday. We chose 11:30 to give parents and grandparents time for the school carpool lines.
5. Create a list of names, phone numbers, or emails for accessible communication. We also created a birthday list so we could celebrate each month.
6. Ask for volunteers to host monthly meetings. The host’s duties should include selecting a restaurant, sending out the invitations two weeks prior, asking for RSVP responses, sending a reminder the week of the event, confirming the number with the restaurant, and providing name tags for all to wear. We chose to keep restaurant options local to our town so those working from home could attend. Some hosts decided to decorate the tables and create small hostess gifts.
I hate the moving process and hope this will be my last move. However, I am excited to meet people and share God’s love with them. Unfortunately, the loneliness epidemic will never end. Every day, God calls people to impact loneliness with his love. If you feel called, follow a few easy steps and watch lives change in your neighborhood.
When I read the headline, America Has an Epidemic of Loneliness, I was intrigued by it. Partly because I was suffering from a bad case of loneliness, and Lexi, my dog, hadn’t been her rambunctious self since her brother, Sammy, had died. I had moved over a thousand miles from my friends, and Lexi had lost her best friend.
As I read the article, I discovered some of the causes of the epidemic. The study found that people spent less time with each other in person across the age groups than two decades ago. Not only that but within the U.S., participation in community organizations—from faith groups to recreational leagues—has declined in recent decades. “So, we’re seeing more forces that take us away from one another and fewer of the forces that used to bring us together. It’s hard to put a price tag, if you will, on the amount of human suffering people are experiencing right now. In the last few decades, we’ve lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact and how we talk to each other. And you can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you because loneliness is about the quality of your connections,” according to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphey.
Social media has become a replacement for in-person relationships, resulting in lower-quality connections. You can like someone’s achievement on Facebook or LinkedIn, but it is different from patting them on the back and saying with a smile, good job, I knew you could do it. Texting an emoji hug can never replace the value of a real hug. FaceTime calls are a great way to communicate but can never replace talking in person.
The article also revealed that loneliness is a serious health risk, which is unsurprising. God stated in the Garden of Eden, “It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). He created us with a need for each other. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the risk of premature death caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day is equivalent to the loneliness risk factor, which shortens one’s life by eight years. According to research, the physical consequences of poor connection can be devastating, including a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke. A 2022 paper from Johns Hopkins University also found that socially isolated older adults had a heightened chance of developing dementia compared to their peers.
The headline that caught my eye continued to weigh on my mind. If I was lonely, others living in my neighborhood might be lonely, too. If I was at risk of shortening my life, I wanted to change that scenario. Thomas Cudjoe, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, stated, “Social connections matter for our cognitive health, and the risk of social isolation is potentially modifiable for older adults.” I wanted to modify my situation and my neighbors. One morning, while I was walking Lexi, God gave me an idea that impacted the loneliness epidemic in my subdivision. After I became friends with those living in my cul-de-sac, I asked if they would be interested in helping start a once-a-month luncheon. We devised a successful plan that turned a small group of lonely strangers into forty-two friends. A few ladies visited my church, and several began to text concerns for me to put on my prayer list. I had the opportunity to share my faith story with a few, but God’s love with everyone. It wasn’t long before I moved again. I keep in touch with my friends, and I am happy to hear that the lunch group is still meeting and that new people are coming.
Maybe a recent headline has caught your attention, or perhaps a Bible passage weighs on your heart; when that happens, consider if God is calling you to do more than reflect on it. Recently, while reading the story of the woman at the well in John 4, I was intrigued by how God orchestrated the events that changed lives. Most Jews on their way to Galilee would have taken a different route, but Jesus stated he must go through Samaria. He didn’t tell the disciples why, but he had a God-ordained appointment at noon to meet a lonely lady. Her choice to draw water from the well at the hottest part of the day reveals several things about her personal life. She was avoiding interaction with other women who probably called her hateful names. Because she was living with a boyfriend and had been married five times, other women did not want to be near her for fear she would destroy their families, too. Jesus saw an opportunity to share his love with the lonely woman. Not only did he change her life, but the lives of many Samaritans from that town.
If you feel called to reach lonely ladies for the Lord in your neighborhood, here is a list of steps that you can use.
1. Adopt this ministry objective: Accept God’s call to reach the lonely with his love to facilitate a change in someone’s physical, mental, and spiritual health.
2.. Start with what ladies you know and encourage them to invite their next-door neighbor. Lexi and I varied our walking times and our routes to meet ladies. Lexi even found two new dog friends, Frazier and Missy, who were lonely, too.
3. Create a name for your group. We chose a name associated with our subdivision. Our group name was the Wedgewood Lakeside Ladies because our subdivision had a lake.
4. Select a set time for the monthly luncheon. We chose 11:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month unless it was a holiday week, in which case it was the second Thursday. We chose 11:30 to give parents and grandparents time for the school carpool lines.
5. Create a list of names, phone numbers, or emails for accessible communication. We also created a birthday list so we could celebrate each month.
6. Ask for volunteers to host monthly meetings. The host’s duties should include selecting a restaurant, sending out the invitations two weeks prior, asking for RSVP responses, sending a reminder the week of the event, confirming the number with the restaurant, and providing name tags for all to wear. We chose to keep restaurant options local to our town so those working from home could attend. Some hosts decided to decorate the tables and create small hostess gifts.
I hate the moving process and hope this will be my last move. However, I am excited to meet people and share God’s love with them. Unfortunately, the loneliness epidemic will never end. Every day, God calls people to impact loneliness with his love. If you feel called, follow a few easy steps and watch lives change in your neighborhood.