{"id":1947,"date":"2011-10-21T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1947"},"modified":"2011-10-20T22:45:17","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T02:45:17","slug":"it-gets-lonely-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/it-gets-lonely-here.html","title":{"rendered":"It gets lonely here"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0I knew he would,\u00a0Chad squealed when he\u00a0heard my voice on\u00a0the phone.\u00a0 \u201cLinda! You called me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I had called\u00a0in response to a\u00a0request from a staff member at\u00a0his group home.\u00a0 She asked if I\u00a0would come to see\u00a0Chad who had\u00a0been admitted\u00a0to the hospital today because of seizures. As\u00a0I talked to the group home staff, \u00a0I realized it was almost 9pm and I am an hour away.\u00a0 I promised to visit him tomorrow.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s asking to see you.\u00a0 I know that you can\u2019t come tonight but would you call him?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Chad and I\u00a0talked for a few minutes and I promised to come to the hospital\u00a0tomorrow.\u00a0 \u201cBring my friend when you come,\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cChad, I can\u2019t bring Mark.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be at school when I come.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Chad is an active participant of The Special Gathering in Vero.\u00a0 He is 35 years old and Mark is his best friend at our Vero program, which is\u00a0a ministry within the mentally challenged (developmentally disabled) community.\u00a0 We do classic ministry, evangelism and discipleship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mark is 19 and these two young men formed a comradeship during our van route each Saturday.\u00a0 Mark is not very verbal which suits Chad fine because he talks more than any three people should.\u00a0 Chad chatters and Mark\u00a0laughs, grunts\u00a0or smiles at the appropriate times.\u00a0 As they part late each Saturday afternoon, Chad will say, \u201cI love you, Mark.\u201d\u00a0 And Mark will\u00a0say, \u201cI love\u00a0you.\u201d\u00a0 Their friendship is genuine and touching.<\/p>\n

At Chad\u2019s request, I promised\u00a0to call Mark and\u00a0ask him to pray for his friend.\u00a0 Within minutes, I was speaking to Mark\u2019s mother.\u00a0 \u201cChad, Mark\u2019s friend from Special Gathering, is in the hospital.\u00a0 He wanted me to call Mark and ask Mark pray for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Mark\u2019s mother asked, not quite understanding my request.\u00a0\u00a0I repeated Chad\u2019s question.\u00a0 This time Mother understood and she was emotionally shaken.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll have him pray,\u201d she said, in a broken voice.\u00a0 I understood. There was joy in her emotions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Before\u00a0Mark came to Special Gathering, his mother had confided to me that he had only one or two friends.\u00a0 Now, a friend needed Mark\u2019s help in prayer.\u00a0 The acidic bitterness of loneliness is something that we all\u00a0taste in our lifetimes.\u00a0 But loneliness can be the\u00a0throbbing, constant\u00a0pain\u00a0with which our members reside.\u00a0 We desire that Special Gathering be a safe place for our members.\u00a0 I am so thankful that it has become not only a safe place for Mark but a place where his prayers\u00a0are needed and wanted.<\/p>\n

Do you struggle with loneliness? \u00a0Do you know someone who wrestle with the specter of being left alone? \u00a0Can you\u00a0help them find friendship and meaning?\u00a0 What was your most difficult time of loneliness?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0I knew he would,\u00a0Chad squealed when he\u00a0heard my voice on\u00a0the phone.\u00a0 \u201cLinda! You called me!\u201d I had called\u00a0in response to a\u00a0request from a staff member at\u00a0his group home.\u00a0 She asked if I\u00a0would come to see\u00a0Chad who had\u00a0been admitted\u00a0to the hospital today because of seizures. As\u00a0I talked to the group home staff, \u00a0I realized it was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,182,40,287,186,49,11,8,85],"tags":[690,21,688,699,720,715,701,694,308,689],"class_list":["post-1947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-disability","category-faith","category-faiths","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectually-disabled","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-prayer-2","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-friendship","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-loneliness","tag-mentally-challenged-community"],"yoast_head":"\nIt gets lonely here - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/it-gets-lonely-here.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It gets lonely here - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As\u00a0I knew he would,\u00a0Chad squealed when he\u00a0heard my voice on\u00a0the phone.\u00a0 \u201cLinda! You called me!\u201d I had called\u00a0in response to a\u00a0request from a staff member at\u00a0his group home.\u00a0 She asked if I\u00a0would come to see\u00a0Chad who had\u00a0been admitted\u00a0to the hospital today because of seizures. As\u00a0I talked to the group home staff, \u00a0I realized it was…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/it-gets-lonely-here.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-21T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-10-21T02:45:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/bed_0_0_1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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As\u00a0I talked to the group home staff, \u00a0I realized it was…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/10\/it-gets-lonely-here.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-10-21T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-10-21T02:45:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/10\/bed_0_0_1-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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