When Women Walk Alone

Cindi McMenamin

Description

More and more women are finding themselves alone in their Christian walk because of life's circumstances--a lack of support from people in her home, work, or church; being left out of the things she used to be included in; being misunderstood and unable to explain. Cindi McMenamin, author of Heart Hunger, offers personal encouragement and practical, biblical steps for gaining strength in times of isolation and becoming resilient to, not resentful toward, loneliness. Cindi's audience for Women Who Walk Alone is a broad one--single women, women parenting alone, women alone as the spiritual head of their household, women facing challenging life situations, women without close friendships. And her message is timely--every woman feels alone at some point in her life, yet every woman needs someone to grow alongside her and to encourage her in her walk with the Lord. When Women Walk Alone encourages readers to see alone times as unique opportunities for personal and spiritual growth. Women will discover practical ways to... find support from other women who feel alone in their lives celebrate their own uniqueness and grow through the lonely times gain strength for the challenges of parenting alone funnel "loneliness in prayer" into "a new power in prayer alone with God" rely on the Lord and others to overcome personal trials Using examples of biblical and contemporary women who emerged from a time of loneliness stronger and more complete, Cindi also looks at the example of Jesus and the many times He was alone or sought out some "alone time" to draw strength from His Father.

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736948234
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo James Thew / Shutterstock
Some of the names have been changed to protect the anonymity and privacy of the women who shared their stories in this book.
WHEN WOMEN WALK ALONE
Copyright 2002, 2012 by Cindi McMenamin
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-4822-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4823-4 (eBook)
The Library of Congress has cataloged the edition as follows:
McMenamin, Cindi, 1965-
When Women Walk Alone / Cindi McMenamin
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-0743-9
1. Christian women-Religious life. 2. Solitude-Religious aspects-Christianity.
3. Loneliness-Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Title.
BV4527 .M433 2002
248.8 43-dc 21
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
For women-everywhere-who feel they walk alone
Acknowledgments
My heartfelt thanks to the women who have read this book, brought it to their churches and started study groups with it, and purchased it for the women in their family-or in some cases, every woman they know! This revised and updated version would not be possible if you hadn t picked up this book, gleaned from it, and passed it on. Thank you for caring about women who walk alone.
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Personal Note from Cindi
A Cry from the Desert
Part One-A Season of Searching
1. Alone as a Woman: Seeking the Blessing
2. Alone at Heart: Looking to Your Heavenly Husband
3. Alone as a Parent: Partnering with God
Part Two-A Season of Strengthening
4. Alone in Your Pain: Releasing the Burden
5. Alone in Your Spiritual Life: Developing a Deeper Trust
6. Alone in Worship: Experiencing More of God
7. Alone in Your Trials: Finding Your Glory Story
Part Three-A Season of Soaring
8. Alone in Your Restlessness: Becoming Desperate for God
9. Alone in Your Dreams: Knowing God Is for You
10. Alone in Serving: Relating to the Heart of Jesus
11. Alone with Your God: Living in His Abundance
Welcome to the Oasis
Appendix: Surrendering the Struggle
Small Group Leader s Guide
Notes
An Invitation to Write
A Personal Note from Cindi

I n the Spring of 2001, I lay face-down on the floor of my study and prayed, God, I can t write this book. I have no idea how to touch the hearts of hurting women. I need You to help me.
I was convinced it was the book God wanted me to write. After all, the title came to me so clearly as I rode a train from Southern to Central California just months earlier and prayed for direction for my second book. Who do I write for next, God? What is the burden on Your heart?
His answer was one I heard only in the deep recesses of my heart: When women walk alone.
Yet several months later, as I faced a deadline to finish the book, I cried out to God for help. And in that moment of brokenness I realized I didn t have what it took to write for that kind of burden on God s heart. Yes, I ve experienced what I feel is loneliness-as a woman, as a wife, as a mother. But I have not walked through the depths of despair that many women have walked-the loss of a husband through death or divorce, the devastating loss of a child, the dark void of depression, the agony of aloneness that comes from an illness or disability or dashed dreams or never having married. I have not faced what some desperate hearts will have experienced as they pick up this book. God help me, I prayed. You know who will read this and what it is they will need to read to experience healing and hope. Bring me the women with encouragement to share. Bring me the stories that will change lives.
Three months later, I turned in the manuscript for the book that has now sold more than 100,000 copies. Thousands of women have shared with me through letters, emails, and in person how their lives were transformed through the stories in this book of women who grew through their grief-stories that testify of the truly incredible ways God can work in people s lives.
From single women out on the mission field
to widows dealing with the loss of their husbands of 30 years or more.
From wives in loveless marriages
to women who wonder if they ll ever be married.
From those who feel they ve fallen too far for God s grace
to those in ministry who feel alone and misunderstood.
From career women who feel alone at the top
to stay-at-home moms struggling with a sense of purpose.
I ve heard from them all. I ve heard their stories of hope as they discovered, through the pages of this book, that there is a reason for their aloneness, and there is One who is strengthening them through it.
One particularly memorable story is that of a woman named Angelique, whom I met while speaking at a women s retreat. Angelique, a single mother of a then nine-year-old, was in her one-bedroom apartment ready to take her life when she heard a knock on her door. When she opened it, there stood two women from her church. They handed her this book and said, We thought of you this evening while we were in a group study on this book. We wanted you to have this. And we d love for you to join us next week.
As they left, Angelique opened the book and by the time she got to the end of the first chapter, she was on her knees at the edge of her bed, tears flowing down her face.
It never ever occurred to me that there might be a reason for the pain I ve had in my life, she told me at the retreat. When I realized God wanted to draw me closer to Him through my aloneness, it changed my life and made me want to live again.
Instead of taking her life that night, Angelique gave it to Jesus. And the next week she showed up at the small group study at her church and shared her story of giving life-and Jesus-a chance. The women in her study pitched in financially to give Angelique a scholarship to attend the upcoming women s retreat, and that made it possible for her to share with me how the book had changed her life.
There may be other Angeliques out there who have yet to discover there is a reason and a purpose behind their pain. And if you re one of them, I invite you to discover one of the most amazing and life-changing truths there is-the God of the Universe wants to develop an intimate relationship with you. And if He has to lead you out to a desert of aloneness to do it, that s what He ll do, so He can show you who He is and all that He can accomplish in your life.
The power in this book is not my own. It s a power that comes from the truth of who God is and the power of His Word-which can cut to the core of our hearts and transform lives. You ll read about women of the Bible and women of today who encountered God and His truth in their season of aloneness, and came through it changed. Changed, strengthened, and hopeful again.
May you become another one of the real-life stories of a woman changed by her encounter with God in the desert of aloneness. And may you, too, discover more intimately the One who has been waiting to get alone with you.
Walking alongside you,
Cindi McMenamin
Southern California
2012
A Cry from the Desert

W ouldn t it be nice to never again have to feel alone? Imagine, instead, someone beside you whenever you needed to sense your worth as a woman, a shoulder available whenever you needed to cry, strong arms holding you up as you pursued your dream. Think of what it would be like to always sense the strength and wisdom of another who has gone before you in the seasons of life and can help you through the ones that seem to overwhelm you.
Yet as women, we so often feel like we walk through life alone. Sometimes certain situations in life cause us to feel alone, like when a husband walks out of (or never walked into) your life, when a child leaves home, a parent dies, or a friend moves away. Sometimes we feel alone during specific seasons of our life-when we deal with marital tensions or the stress of being single, when we parent young children or find we can t have children, when we reach the afternoon of life and our children leave home, when our body slows down, and when we retire from our jobs. Sometimes just the stress and pace of life makes us feel we walk alone thinking no one understands our plans or hears our hearts or has walked in our pumps.
If that s how you feel, you are not alone. Not only are you surrounded by other women who feel the same way, you re also surrounded by shoulders that can carry your burdens, strong arms that do hold you up, and strength and wisdom that wants to be part of your life. This book aims at opening your eyes to see all that you have-and to convince you that you can be stronger than you ve ever been before by embracing the One who has perhaps led you to your desert of aloneness to show you a mightier side of Himself.
In this book, I want to look at what we as women consider alone times and help you see them as doorways to discovering a deeper intimacy with God. I want to help you walk from the desert of aloneness to the oasis of abundance by seeing your alone times not as obstacles to your growth, but as opportunities to draw closer to the heart o