Finding Joy in Loneliness Book
Donation protected
Hey everyone!
Thank you so much for checking out this page and supporting this campaign!
I want to a share with you a little bit about this campaign and the book I decided to write. It all began about 2 years ago in June 2017. My husband was deployed for 6 to 8 months and because of it, I grew this huge pit in my stomach from the loneliness I knew I would have to endure, but also that I soon would. I would wake up alone, go to sleep alone and if I didn’t plan something that day, I would be alone. And through the first half of deployment, I thought, "This can’t be it. There has to be more than just feeling lonely all the time." However, as I was thinking through that and really spending time with God and in the Word, I felt like God was giving me this picture in my mind of having joy in loneliness!
Now, when I first felt like He was telling me this, I was kind of skeptical! The idea of finding joy in loneliness just seemed crazy...like, how could I be joyful when I’m alone? That just didn’t seem real.
I’ve always believed that God created us for relationship, which is true because, in the beginning, God told Adam that it is not good for man to be alone, thus creating Eve. So, that was my understanding of loneliness. I believed the reason why we are sad in loneliness is because we were created for relationship!
However, as I started looking more into scripture, started studying the Bible more and just hearing what God was speaking to me, I began to realize that we were created for relationship not only humans, but also with God. So, when we are separated from God, we have this content feeling of loneliness or emptiness, because our spirit desires that relationship. When we draw closer to Him, we establish a relationship with Him that can be full of joy!
So after that, I started thinking more about what it looks like to have joy during loneliness, I felt like God was shaping my heart to this reality. However, I didn't ever fully experience it during the time of deployment. I still wrestled with it. Honestly, not until March 2019, which is currently when I’m writing this book, did I feel this amazing joy in loneliness. (I feel like it so timely for God to allow me to experience this joy while I write the book!)
My husband left for three weeks in March and during this time I really wanted to press into the joy in loneliness that God kept showing me. I prayed I don't want to write a book if I haven't even fully experienced it myself, so, God, I really need you to help me see what that looks like! And within the first week, I continued to have amazing times with Him! I would pray at night, I would worship in the morning I would read scripture asking the Holy Spirit to be a part of those times and each day my desire to spend time with Him grew, as did the joy of my heart! Of course, even through this, I was sad that my husband was gone. However, now I looked forward to the moments that I got to spend worshipping. The moments I got to spend praying and talking to the Father.
And honestly, I have never experienced that type of joy before! I want to be honest about that because if you were to tell me that 3 years ago, I would think, "I don’t know how I’m ever going to feel joyful when my husband is gone, I love my husband and for him to be gone, well, it’s painful and it hurts and I don’t want him to leave!" However, now having experienced what God has shown me and experienced the amount of joy I felt while spending time with Him and in worship, it's just been an amazing experience that I want to share with everyone! My desire is for you to be able to find this type of joy for herself because I know that's God's desire.
So I hope that gave you a little insight on my heart for this book! Thank you so much for your support! I love you all and can't wait for this book to launch!! (:
Thank you so much for checking out this page and supporting this campaign!
I want to a share with you a little bit about this campaign and the book I decided to write. It all began about 2 years ago in June 2017. My husband was deployed for 6 to 8 months and because of it, I grew this huge pit in my stomach from the loneliness I knew I would have to endure, but also that I soon would. I would wake up alone, go to sleep alone and if I didn’t plan something that day, I would be alone. And through the first half of deployment, I thought, "This can’t be it. There has to be more than just feeling lonely all the time." However, as I was thinking through that and really spending time with God and in the Word, I felt like God was giving me this picture in my mind of having joy in loneliness!
Now, when I first felt like He was telling me this, I was kind of skeptical! The idea of finding joy in loneliness just seemed crazy...like, how could I be joyful when I’m alone? That just didn’t seem real.
I’ve always believed that God created us for relationship, which is true because, in the beginning, God told Adam that it is not good for man to be alone, thus creating Eve. So, that was my understanding of loneliness. I believed the reason why we are sad in loneliness is because we were created for relationship!
However, as I started looking more into scripture, started studying the Bible more and just hearing what God was speaking to me, I began to realize that we were created for relationship not only humans, but also with God. So, when we are separated from God, we have this content feeling of loneliness or emptiness, because our spirit desires that relationship. When we draw closer to Him, we establish a relationship with Him that can be full of joy!
So after that, I started thinking more about what it looks like to have joy during loneliness, I felt like God was shaping my heart to this reality. However, I didn't ever fully experience it during the time of deployment. I still wrestled with it. Honestly, not until March 2019, which is currently when I’m writing this book, did I feel this amazing joy in loneliness. (I feel like it so timely for God to allow me to experience this joy while I write the book!)
My husband left for three weeks in March and during this time I really wanted to press into the joy in loneliness that God kept showing me. I prayed I don't want to write a book if I haven't even fully experienced it myself, so, God, I really need you to help me see what that looks like! And within the first week, I continued to have amazing times with Him! I would pray at night, I would worship in the morning I would read scripture asking the Holy Spirit to be a part of those times and each day my desire to spend time with Him grew, as did the joy of my heart! Of course, even through this, I was sad that my husband was gone. However, now I looked forward to the moments that I got to spend worshipping. The moments I got to spend praying and talking to the Father.
And honestly, I have never experienced that type of joy before! I want to be honest about that because if you were to tell me that 3 years ago, I would think, "I don’t know how I’m ever going to feel joyful when my husband is gone, I love my husband and for him to be gone, well, it’s painful and it hurts and I don’t want him to leave!" However, now having experienced what God has shown me and experienced the amount of joy I felt while spending time with Him and in worship, it's just been an amazing experience that I want to share with everyone! My desire is for you to be able to find this type of joy for herself because I know that's God's desire.
So I hope that gave you a little insight on my heart for this book! Thank you so much for your support! I love you all and can't wait for this book to launch!! (:
Fundraising team (2)
Brittani Tamayo-Krebbs
Organizer
Everett, WA
Trisha Perez
Team member
