December 12, 2024 • 44 mins
We pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and physical life is won, as we follow Christ, who is our Commanding Officer in this field called LIFE. Whether you are here for spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, PTSD, suicide prevention, or want to know the latest military news, we are here to serve you. Website: VeteransInChrist.net Email: VeteransInChrist@Mail.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VeteransinChrist/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to all who have served, are serving, and will
serve in the armed services to the veterans. In Christ
Podcast with your host, doctor and Navy veteran k l. Rich,
we pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and
physical life is one as we follow Christ, who is
our commanding officer in this field called life. Whether you
are here for spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, ETSD
(00:31):
suicide prevention, or want to know the latest military news,
we are here to serve you. Now Here is your host,
Doctor k l Rich.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, this is doctor Rich with Veterans and Christ. I
pray that you all are having a blessed and wonderful
morning on this December the twelfth of twenty twenty four.
You know, time is passing by so fast. I don't
know if you've noticed, but it's like as soon as
(01:02):
the year comes in is gone already, and so we
will soon be entering Lord Willing twenty twenty five. However,
I'm excited to be coming to you all today. We
are here. We honor your service to the nation, tell
you God's love and salvation, give you information that you
(01:24):
can use. Whether a veteran active do they Reserves, first responder,
or a family member of someone wearing dressed white, greens,
or blues, and so we're just happy to be with
you today. I am your host, Doctor Rich I am
a Navy veteran. I'm also an evangelist, and so if
you have not tuned in to us on our other podcasts,
(01:47):
please do so with our podcast It is Finished. Now,
we're on various different platforms. We're on every Tuesday and
Thursday at ten am Eastern Standard time, nine am Central. However,
this is gonna be the last podcast for this year,
but we're coming back January the second. Now, I do
(02:09):
believe in self care, and so I need a a
couple of weeks off because we have a lot of
things that I'm gonna be doing with ministry with this
podcast or the Veterans in Christ with it is Finished
pod podcasts. I'm gonna be starting a revelation series on
Friday nights that's gonna be interactive, and we have our
(02:31):
Saturday morning prayers with it is Finished. So we have
a lot of different things that's gonna be going on.
But for today, you know, this is gonna be the
last podcast for this year, and we'll start back up
January the second, So remember January the second, we will
be back with Veterans in Christ. If you have missed
(02:51):
any podcast, please catch up in the archives and so
that you can be ready to tune back in on
jail January the second. However, before we start our podcast today,
because we're gonna be talking about loneliness, veteran loneliness. A
lot of people are lonely during the holidays, and people
(03:16):
are often you know, feeling displaced. They feel like they
don't have anyone to be with or anyone that cares.
They feel like, you know, I don't know where I
fit in. And one thing we know, the Bible says
that Jesus is he's with us. He will never leave
(03:37):
you nor forsake you. And so you know, you may
have times when you like, you know what, I'm out
the military now, I don't really connect with people that's
in a civilian world because I'm used to being in
the service. Or you're getting ready to get out and
you're feeling a little displaced, a little lonely, like what
(03:57):
do I do now? Or you might be a family
member of someone that is in the service, and you
you might say, you know, whether you're a spouse or
a loved one, you like, you know what, I'm really
feeling alone right now. I'm missing that that person that's serving.
They're not gonna be here for Christmas, or they're not
(04:19):
gonna be here for New Years. But guess what God
is with you. And He also gives us connections with
other people. And so one thing that's important is to
ask the Lord to bring those people into your life
that's gonna help you be there for you. You all
can be a connection towards you know, with each other,
(04:42):
and God will bring people in your life at the
right time in your life. So this morning, I want
to just pray for all the veterans, all the active duty,
the first responders, family members of those who have and
are serving, and that we pray against the spirit of
loneliness because the devil he would like for you to
(05:03):
feel defeated. But we know that we are powerful with
the weapon that God has given us prayer. Prayer is
our best weapon against the enemy. When you're feeling lonely,
pray when you're feeling like no one is there for you.
Pray when you feel like, hey, I can't make it
another day. Pray when you feel like I don't know
(05:23):
what decision to make. Pray. God is there and he
wants us to talk to him first and foremost, and
then whatever it is you're dealing with, guess what, He
already has the answer. Amen, So let's open up this
morning with the word of prayer. Dear heveny Father God.
(05:44):
I just thank you God for allowing us to come
into your presence this morning. Lord. I thank you Lord
for all that you've done. I thank you for all
the things that you're doing. We just want to say
thank you. We thank you for being our our but father.
We thank you for being our Eloween, our creator. We
thank you for being our Jehovah Jarer, our provider. We
(06:05):
thank you, Lord for being our Jehovah Rafi, our healer.
We thank you for being that I am that encompasses
everything that we are, that you are, and everything that
we will ever hope for in our need. Lord, we
just thank you today.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
We thank you Jesus for coming and dining on the
cross for our sins so that we may have life
and have it more abundantly. Lord, we ask right now
that you will touch every veteran right now that's feeling alone,
that's feeling depressed, that's feeling suicidal, that's worried, having an
anxiety panic PTSD. Lord, we ask that you will touch
(06:43):
them right now, in the name of Jesus. Let them
know that you are with them. You will never leave them,
nor forsake them. You are there, even in their loneliest feelings.
Right now, Lord, that they are they are not alone,
that you are with them, and all they have to
do is turn and look to you. Lord. We ask
right now that every active duty personnel, Lord, that you
(07:06):
will be with them, Lord, even as some are maybe
transitioning now and they have a little anxiety and wary
fear whatever. That you didn't give us a spirit of fear,
but you gave us the spirit of power, love and
a sound mind, and so we can always come to you.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
We ask or that you will be with the first
responders right now, in the name of Jesus. Lord, we
ask that you will be with the doctors and the
nurses right now. Lord, in the name of Jesus, we
pray that you will be with every chapelain that ministers
to the veterans and those that minister to the active duty. Lord,
that they will Minister, in accordance with your will. In
(07:46):
the name of Jesus, we pray for those family servicemen,
the families of those that are serving and have served, Lord,
that even though they may be separated during this time
of year, that they will not be alone, that they
will not feel alone, but they will fill your presence.
(08:06):
In the name of Jesus, Lord, we ask Lord that
you will bring divine connections. Lord, where no one feels alone,
no one feels by themselves, Lord, but you will bring
divine connections for them. Lord, are day by you in
the name of Jesus. We just thank you in advance
(08:27):
for the things that you are going to do, Lord,
the things that you're already working on, the things you've
already stepped ahead of time and worked out. Lord, we
asked all these things. And your son's name, Jesus, you're
sure a Hummershick. Thank God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, today
(08:49):
we're I wanna actually I want to go to the
Word of God as always and and we're gonna talk
about something that might touch the heart of many many people.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
And again is dealing is dealing with loneliness, is dealing
with loneliness, And so I want to go to the
Book of Second Kings, the Book of Second Kings, and
this is dealing with a woman who did not have
(09:29):
any children. She was married, but her husband was old.
He was older, and it doesn't exactly give his age,
but the Bible lets us know that he was older
and they didn't have any children. And we often see
this in many stories in the Bible and biblical times,
where you were known to be successful, prosperous, blessed by
(09:54):
God if you had children. But we see that sometimes
God delayed giving a couple children because he had a
special anointing on the child that he was going to
give them. They may have thought their time was up,
their time was over. They may have felled alone.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
They may have felt with whether we're gonna do in
our old age? We have no children, we have no
one to care for us. But but God, he's always
looking out for us. He's always caring for us. And
so I want to go to Second King's chapter four
and verse stunt at verse eight. Second Kings, Chapter four
(10:35):
and stunt at verse eight, because it tells the story
about this woman and this and her husband who was
kind to the prophet Elisha, and Elisha he went he
often came to their house, went to their house, and
they welcomed him with open arms. And so I want
to just read this because they could have possibly maybe
(10:58):
have been in the state where they didn't have any children,
were they felt maybe alone even though they were married,
but the empty house, not having a pitopattern, maybe seeing
other people with their children, and it could maybe bring
about a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of uncertainty.
(11:19):
Maybe she would have wondered, well, what am I gonna do,
you know, should my husband pass and I have no
children or whatever, and that can bring about some feelings
of anxiety, some feelings of weary, some feelings of just
wandering and concern of maybe even some feelings of loneliness,
where as her husband was out working and she may
(11:40):
have maybe been a little alone. So we never know
what kind of feelings that she had per se but
you can only imagine what she may have been going through.
Many couples and even in today's time, don't have children,
and so it can bring a little bit of loneliness
to maybe that mother or that father that's wishing so
(12:03):
deeply to have someone to hold, someone to love, someone
to care for, and so on Second King, chapter four,
and starting at verse eight, it says, one day Elisha
went to Shunem and a well to do woman was
there who urged him to stay for a meal. So
(12:24):
whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She
said to her husband, I know, this man who often
comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's
make a small room on the roof and put it
and put in it a bed and a chair and
a table and a lamp for him. Then he can
(12:46):
stay there whenever he comes to us. So you had
this well to do woman, this husband his wife, and
they figure, oh, this is a holy man of God,
and he often comes here when they he comes to town,
they often inviting him to eat. So they said, well,
you know what, let's do. Let's go a step beyond.
(13:06):
We want to make sure that he's comfortable. He doesn't
have to find anywhere to stay when he comes to town.
So we're gonna go and we're gonna make some arrangements
at the top of our roof. Now there houses during
that time was different than the way we have houses today.
Many of us we weren't. We wouldn't be able to
(13:27):
have someone to stay on the roof, they'll fall off.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Okay, they'll fall off because we have the shingles and
the and the slants, you know, to make sure that
when the water is coming down that it's not gonna
collapse the house.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Due to the pressure of the water. So our structures
are a little bit different than they were in biblical times.
But obviously during this time it was where there was
a flat roof where they can go up and make
it comfortable for someone to be able to reside up there.
So they put a table, they put a bed, they
(14:04):
put a lamp, and made it where he would be
able to stay comfortably when he came to town. So
one day in verse eleven, one day when Elisha came,
he went up to his room and lay there. He
said to his servant, Ghazi called the Shumamite woman. So
(14:25):
he called her, and he stood before and she stood
before him. Elisha said to him, tell her, you have
gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can
be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf
to the king or the commander of the army, she said.
She replied, I have a home among my own people.
(14:47):
So what Elisha was wanting to do, he was wanting
to repay her in kindness, and he asked, can I
give a word to the king? Can I give a
word to command and officer? Is there's something that you
need that I can do for you? And one thing
that God does is when we are kind to his servants,
(15:08):
when we are kind to other people, when we do
things out of selflessness, because we live in a selfish,
narcissistic society these days. But when we are self less
and we give of our all to bless the Kingdom
of God, to bless others, because Jesus said, when you
do unto the least of them, you've done it unto me.
(15:29):
So when we're doing unto others, we have also done
unto God. And so he was wanting to do something
for her because they had went out third way, her
and her husband to help him to be comfortable when
he came to the city. And so she said that
you know, I already have a home. She was already
(15:52):
well to do. So she cann't really think of anything
that she would want that the king go the command
that could even do for her. But Gahaza Gaghazi said, well,
she has no son and her husband is old, so
let's pay attention here. You have two things. She has
(16:13):
no son and her husband is old. So what the
Elisia's servant was actually saying is that, you know, she
doesn't have an air, she doesn't have anyone that would
care for her and her old age, and her husband
is already old. So it seems it seems that Gahazi
(16:33):
was saying that, you know, hey, she's gonna be alone.
If it should her husband pass or something happened, she
would have no one. And because they don't, they didn't
have any children. Then Elisha called said call her. So
he called her, and she's stood in the doorway. Now
we're not talking about a car, a cell phone or
(16:53):
a landline. They didn't have phones back in these days.
So he had to actually the servant had to actually
go get her. Her call upon her, and so she
came before the prophet, and so he told her about
this time next year. Elisia said, you will hold a
son in your arms. Does that remind you of something?
(17:15):
Does that remind you of what the Lord said to
Sarah that you know, in her old age? Because she
laughed when God told Abraham that this time next year
that she was gonna have a son. So Sarah laughed.
She thought, hey, I'm too old. This is funny.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
And so God called her out on it and said
you laugh, and then she got scared.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Oh no, one didn't laugh, you know, but she did.
He said, yes, you did. And so the same thing here,
Alicia said, you know what, this time next year, you're
gonna have a child. But then the woman she said, no,
my lord, she objected, don't mislead your servant, oh man
of God. And so she was like, you know what,
(18:00):
they may have tried to have children all throughout the years,
but no child ever came. But see, one thing, we know,
everything is always in God's timy. So we may want
something at a particular time and it may not be
the time that God has ordained for that to happen. However,
(18:21):
it was her time. It was her time. So he
told her that the next year. And see she probably said, oh,
you know what, I've prayed for this for so long.
I've desired for this for so long. Have there ever
been something that you've longed for? So if you're dealing
with loneliness, you might be saying, I long for companionship,
(18:41):
I long for friendship, I loan for something in my
life where I will not feel alone. So you can
imagine what she felt. And she didn't want to get
her hopes up, so her immediate response was, no, Lord,
don't prophet, don't deceive me, you know, don't don't get
my hopes up only for them to be let down.
(19:04):
She may have had her hopes so for so many years,
and then she finally said, you know, what I've given
up is not gonna happen. She may have been settled that, hey,
this is my destiny is not meant to be, and
she probably let it go. But then in verse seventeen,
it says, but the woman became pregnant, and the next year,
(19:26):
about that same time, she gave birth to a son,
just as Elicia had told her. And we're gonna stop
right there. And so she no longer was alone, you know,
even though she had her husband, but now they had
the joy of a much wanted, desired child, and she
(19:53):
was blessed to no longer have an empty house that
did not have any pillow pattern or anything in it.
She was not alone. She now was a mother. And
the Lord never wants us to feel lonely. Even if
you are alone, you don't have to feel lonely, and
(20:17):
God has many different ways to help those who are
feeling alone. We're going to take a quick break and
we'll be back in just a moment.
Speaker 7 (20:37):
Alond, it's come.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Fred, let hand heaven and nature, Heaven, nature.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
She the lomu.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
It's three part. That's say.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Something fall, say.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Your hand, say thank you. They shout to the star, shout.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
Say you.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Want to say, and that is the same John my loudy.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
They shout, un.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
John, try.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
The sky please.
Speaker 7 (22:46):
House for today.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
To ca ship said.
Speaker 9 (23:54):
Say to peace, joy.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Sat s.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Hey, Joy to the world. And that is by the
late Whitney Houston. We want some joy. Come on now,
we want some joy. Joy to the world, and we
can be glad that Jesus came and died so that
we may have life and have it more abundantly. And
(25:34):
the word lets us know that the joy. Come on now.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on now,
all right. So we're gonna be talking about loneliness. Loneliness.
Are many veterans you may be dealing with loneliness, and
(25:56):
I want to I want to just go through that
because we're human beings down here and we deal with
a lot of different issues and not everyone's issues are
the same. And if someone is dealing with loneliness, this
is not some time to take jabs as a person,
(26:17):
criticize them and everything will you know, you know how
sometimes people can be. But sometimes people really feel alone,
really feel alone, they have even a chronic loneliness about them.
And so I want to read something. This is from
very wellmind dot com, very well Mind dot com, and
(26:40):
it says in twenty twenty three, the US Surgeon General
said loneliness had become a new kind of insidious epidemic
in America. And that's worth talking about. And yes it is,
it's very much worth talking about. Chronic loneliness is profound
a loneeness from being involuntarily isolated from meaning for relationships
(27:05):
for a long period of time. You may be around
others but still feel like you are an island of yourself.
And this is what some people can get mixed up,
where they say, oh, well, they're around a lot of people.
But the thing is, you can be around a lot
of people and still feel lonely. You have a lot
of people that are married and they still feel lonely.
(27:29):
They're lonely within the marriage so just because you're around
a lot of people, and most people that feel lonely,
they have jobs, careers, they may be a student, they
may be around a whole bunch of people, but you
still feel like you are on an island by yourself.
You ever seen those pictures where you have maybe one
(27:52):
hundred balls that's all green, and then you have that
one that stands out that's white. Okay, so you feel
that way. You might feel that you are by yourself.
This could have started as a child, they could have
gone into your adulthood, or you may just have a
(28:13):
hard time just just building relationships because guess what, when
you're born, no one gives you a handbook of how
to not be lonely. No one gives you a handbook
of how do I make friends? No one gives you
that handbook. Okay, this is something that oftentimes you normally
have to just try to navigate through and try to
(28:33):
Most of us, I've had to try to figure it
out or whatever, you know, and some have a natural
flow of being able to be a magnet where everybody
just navigates to them and others not so much. And
this is not a defect in you, So don't think that, oh, well,
because I'm not this natural social butterfly, that there's something
(28:58):
wrong with me. No, soh, there's nothing wrong with you.
We all have our gifts, we all have our talents.
Just sometimes that that social that social butterfly may not
be your strongest suit, and that's okay, that's okay. But
then this is something that hey, we can try to
(29:19):
change if possible, but first it has to start on
the inside. And so one of the things you might say, well,
what is a sign of that I have chronic loneliness?
Well do you feel do you have like mood swings
where you have low mood, your melancholy? Do you have
a problem sleeping? Do you lack of you don't have
(29:44):
that affection, You don't have any affection and warmth from
within and from other people. Do you lack physical activity
because you just don't feel like doing anything or you
don't feel like being around anyone. Have you either gain
weight or lost a lot of weight? Because sometimes when
people lonely, they'll go, you know, turn to food. We
(30:06):
all have that comfort food sometimes that we like, and
so you can either go to the extreme of gaining
or the extreme of losing. Are you in poor physical health.
Do you have pain and joints in your body, because
let me just say this, sometimes the way you're feeling
on the inside, it overflows into other areas of your body.
(30:30):
Do you have impulsive behaviors where you're shopping a lot,
or you're gambling, or things you're drinking, things that are
not conducive to being in a best in the best
mood or in the or stable frame of mind. Do
you have an unhealthy diet. Sometimes when you're not feeling
(30:53):
your best, you might grab the wrong things, or or
it might be eating the wrong things that can cause
you to feel in certain types of moods. Do you
have a history or you're dealing with substance abuse If
you're doing our alcohol or drugs or whatever, that can
(31:14):
also cause you to feel isolated, or you're isolating yourself
because you don't want others to know what you're dealing with.
Do you have negative thoughts? Are you dealing with anxiety, panic, weary, stressed?
These are things that can cause you to feel isolated
or you depressed. You're dealing with a lot of unhappiness.
(31:37):
Are you feeling that you're worthless? You're feeling like you've
been abandoned, or you might be abandoning someone. So these
are things that you might be that might be signs
that you have chronic loneliness. Now, a lot of times
around this time of year, you have a lot of
(31:58):
people there. It's veterans rather, it's seniors. Even those on
active duty can be can feel alone. You might be
around a lot of different people, but you feel alone
because you're not maybe in a familiar environment. You might
have just entered the military and you're you know, you're
(32:19):
feeling a little kind of displaced because this is something
that's new to you, so you haven't maybe connected with
people just yet. You might be dealing with the separation
of not being home for the holidays, so you're feeling
maybe a little lonely, a little homesick. So there's different
types of loneliness. You have situational loneliness that occurs when
(32:44):
you experience an event in an environment such as a
personal conflict, a significant move, a career change, a pandemic,
and let me just speak speaking of pandemics. We know
that a lot of people felt isolated when we dealt
with C nineteen because people but during the time when
we weren't shut downs and and people weren't mingling and
(33:04):
they weren't able to go with their friends, or children
were feeling lonely because they weren't able to go to
school and they weren't bab being able to be around others.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
A lot of people felt lonely when they were required
to wear a mass because everything you weren't uh able
to be personal with other people. It kind of uh
the six feet distance uh separation where I can't hug,
I can't touch, cause we're not meant to be isolated.
We're meant to be in community. Then you have a
(33:35):
developmental loneliness that happens when you experience a physical or
psychological event such as an inconsistent home, lifestyle, poverty, UH,
developmental problems, a loss. So this developmental loneliness can it
It can be things that may have occurred during your
life that caused you to maybe isolate or d uh
(33:57):
caused you to have to be uh separate rated due
to certain issues. And then you have an internal loneliness
that manifests when you experience an internal event such as anxiety, depression,
low self esteem, of guilt, and other issues. Let me
just say that when you're dealing with loneliness. This is
(34:21):
something that you really would want to talk to someone
about because it can have a lot of effects in
other areas of your life. As we mentioned earlier. Earlier,
it can cause you to have stress, heart disease, high
blood pressure, suicidal thoughts, or even attempted attempting to carry
it out OBCD premature death. A lot of people die
(34:47):
because they are lonely. They feel like no one loves them,
no one cares for them. And so one thing you
might say, well, how do I get over the loneliness
or how do I deal with it in order to
be able to move forward where I don't feel lonely. Well,
(35:08):
one of the things that is important to is to
give yourself self care. Self care that means take care
of you. That means make sure I get the proper
nutrition I need, make sure I get enough sleep, not
overdoing it, but get the proper amount of sleep. Make
sure that I join a community. Even if you feel like, well,
(35:32):
you know what, I'm not the best social butterfly, but
just go if you want to, just join, whether it's
a gym or a group or a church or something
that helps promote where you're not feeling isolated where you
can be around people. You might have a hobby that
you do, join a class if you faith. For example,
(35:55):
you might like doing art, you might like painting. Well,
join an art class as with other people that have
common things that you know, have things in common with
what your interests are, so that you will not feel
so isolated. Another thing is to not be hard on yourself.
(36:17):
So make sure that you're not not running negative marathons
in your head. Well I'm not this, I'm not that.
I haven't accomplished this, I haven't accomplished that, and therefore
you isolate. Because sometimes we can self isolate because we
feel like, hey, I haven't achieved what others have achieved.
(36:38):
And one thing that is important to never do is
compare ourselves to other people. You may be running the race,
but that person might be a little faster, you might
be a little slower. It doesn't matter. We don't have
to compare ourselves to other people. We're each running our
own rays. Another thing that's good to do is to
(37:03):
talk to other people about it. You know, your loved ones,
Maybe tell them, hey, you know, i'm feeling a little
you know, displaced, I'm feeling a little lonely, and so
maybe spend some time with loved ones who appreciate, who value,
who care about you. Another thing that can help is
(37:25):
to volunteer. Around this time of year, around anytime, you
can volunteer to help others, and it can take your
mind off of your own loneliness, your own situation because
you are doing for someone else. I love having pets.
(37:48):
You know, I'm not married, I don't have children, but
I have four big babies. I have two cats and
two dogs, so I have my pets that are my children.
So this can also help you with loneliness. Another thing
is talk to a therapist. Talk to a therapist. If
(38:09):
you feel like this is something that you're really going
to need to walk with someone that's going to help you,
then you need to talk to a therapist. And there's
nothing wrong with talking to someone who can help you
to navigate that particular situation. So I want to give
(38:32):
you all some resource for veterans. Veteran programs that help
to support VA programs that help to support veterans who
are struggling with loneliness, and it's called Compassionate Contact Corps.
Compassionate Contact Corpse combats loneliness. And so I want to
(38:56):
read you a little bit from the VA News dot
gov and it says since the pandemic, a new virtual
social prescribing program has resonated with veterans and volunteers alike.
It's called Compassionate Contact Corps. This program highlights the power
of genuine human connection and combating loneliness and improving mental
(39:21):
health outcomes. Compassionate Contact Corps is a non clinical program.
A train volunteer preferably from the community, is matched with
a veteran that has been identified by their clinician as
potentially benefiting from additional social connection. The volunteer phones the
(39:42):
veteran weekly, usually for fifteen to sixty minutes of meaningful conversation.
It has become a signature program of American Red Cross
and Soldiers' Angels, and there is significant participation from other
veteran services of veterans service organizations helping to come back
(40:03):
this issue. So this is a program that the v
that the VA has has organized to help veterans that
deal with uh UH or they struggle with loneliness. So
if you are dealing with this, then please talk to
(40:23):
someone at the VA. If you are veteran or even
if you're on active duty, talk to you know, talk
to your doctor if you're able to talk to your
doctor so that they can help you and you can
get those connections that you need. Also, if you are
(40:45):
if you know someone that may be dealing with this.
You may not be dealing with this yourself, but if
you know someone who may be feeling a little isolated
and lonely, uh, then maybe you can be that point
of contact for that tickle a person. You know, sometimes
it's easy to pass things off to others to do
(41:05):
when God has put us down here to be that
blessing to other people. I know that when I was
in the military, when I had first joined and I
actually had my nineteenth birthday in boot camp, and I
had later on got stationed to Wiby Island, Washington, and
(41:29):
so I know it was God that allowed me to
connect with this family that I had been friends for
for years, even after I had gotten out the military,
and it was like they were like family away from family.
And so I would encourage you to be that source
(41:52):
of contact for someone, especially when you're dealing with young
people that are in the military. You just never know.
Just being a friend, reaching out, inviting them over and
even outside of you know, you might say I invite
them to church, but even going over and beyond, so
(42:12):
that they would know that they are not alone. All right,
we are a body here. I pray that you all
have a blessed and wonderful holiday. If you are following
me on Facebook, don't forget that on Christmas Eve, December
(42:37):
twenty fourth, which is on a Tuesday, we're gonna have
a sing that tune. That's what it is finished in
times ministrits. We're gonna have a sing that tune and
there's gonna be different people who are gonna be doing
short clips of singing, whether it's a Christianas song, a
Christmas curl or Christmas song, and they're actually submitting. If
(42:59):
you want to anticipate, you can submit to evangelist ko
Rich at yahoo dot com evangelist ko Rich at yahoo
dot com, and you can you can submit me a
thirty second to maybe a two minute clip of you
singing something, and I can err on the broadcast for
(43:19):
it is finished on Christmas Eve. You know, God loves you,
and he loves our veterans, he loves our first responders,
he loves our active duty service and we know that
God Israel. They had armies, they had kings, and they
song were good and some were bad. But the main
(43:41):
thing is making sure that whatever area you serve, that
you serve the Lord first and foremost. All Right, we
are a body here that says doctor ko Rich, your
navy veteran, and I pray did you have a blessed
and wonderful Christmas Us and we would be back January
(44:02):
the second. Until next time, Thanks for.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Tuning in to Veterans in Christ. We pray that you
found today's podcast informative and we look forward to being
with you again during the next podcast. May the Lord
bless and keep you going out and coming in.
Welcome to all who have served, are serving, and will
serve in the armed services to the veterans. In Christ
Podcast with your host, doctor and Navy veteran k l. Rich,
we pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and
physical life is one as we follow Christ, who is
our commanding officer in this field called life. Whether you
are here for spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, ETSD
(00:31):
suicide prevention, or want to know the latest military news,
we are here to serve you. Now Here is your host,
Doctor k l Rich.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, this is doctor Rich with Veterans and Christ. I
pray that you all are having a blessed and wonderful
morning on this December the twelfth of twenty twenty four.
You know, time is passing by so fast. I don't
know if you've noticed, but it's like as soon as
(01:02):
the year comes in is gone already, and so we
will soon be entering Lord Willing twenty twenty five. However,
I'm excited to be coming to you all today. We
are here. We honor your service to the nation, tell
you God's love and salvation, give you information that you
(01:24):
can use. Whether a veteran active do they Reserves, first responder,
or a family member of someone wearing dressed white, greens,
or blues, and so we're just happy to be with
you today. I am your host, Doctor Rich I am
a Navy veteran. I'm also an evangelist, and so if
you have not tuned in to us on our other podcasts,
(01:47):
please do so with our podcast It is Finished. Now,
we're on various different platforms. We're on every Tuesday and
Thursday at ten am Eastern Standard time, nine am Central. However,
this is gonna be the last podcast for this year,
but we're coming back January the second. Now, I do
(02:09):
believe in self care, and so I need a a
couple of weeks off because we have a lot of
things that I'm gonna be doing with ministry with this
podcast or the Veterans in Christ with it is Finished
pod podcasts. I'm gonna be starting a revelation series on
Friday nights that's gonna be interactive, and we have our
(02:31):
Saturday morning prayers with it is Finished. So we have
a lot of different things that's gonna be going on.
But for today, you know, this is gonna be the
last podcast for this year, and we'll start back up
January the second, So remember January the second, we will
be back with Veterans in Christ. If you have missed
(02:51):
any podcast, please catch up in the archives and so
that you can be ready to tune back in on
jail January the second. However, before we start our podcast today,
because we're gonna be talking about loneliness, veteran loneliness. A
lot of people are lonely during the holidays, and people
(03:16):
are often you know, feeling displaced. They feel like they
don't have anyone to be with or anyone that cares.
They feel like, you know, I don't know where I
fit in. And one thing we know, the Bible says
that Jesus is he's with us. He will never leave
(03:37):
you nor forsake you. And so you know, you may
have times when you like, you know what, I'm out
the military now, I don't really connect with people that's
in a civilian world because I'm used to being in
the service. Or you're getting ready to get out and
you're feeling a little displaced, a little lonely, like what
(03:57):
do I do now? Or you might be a family
member of someone that is in the service, and you
you might say, you know, whether you're a spouse or
a loved one, you like, you know what, I'm really
feeling alone right now. I'm missing that that person that's serving.
They're not gonna be here for Christmas, or they're not
(04:19):
gonna be here for New Years. But guess what God
is with you. And He also gives us connections with
other people. And so one thing that's important is to
ask the Lord to bring those people into your life
that's gonna help you be there for you. You all
can be a connection towards you know, with each other,
(04:42):
and God will bring people in your life at the
right time in your life. So this morning, I want
to just pray for all the veterans, all the active duty,
the first responders, family members of those who have and
are serving, and that we pray against the spirit of
loneliness because the devil he would like for you to
(05:03):
feel defeated. But we know that we are powerful with
the weapon that God has given us prayer. Prayer is
our best weapon against the enemy. When you're feeling lonely,
pray when you're feeling like no one is there for you.
Pray when you feel like, hey, I can't make it
another day. Pray when you feel like I don't know
(05:23):
what decision to make. Pray. God is there and he
wants us to talk to him first and foremost, and
then whatever it is you're dealing with, guess what, He
already has the answer. Amen, So let's open up this
morning with the word of prayer. Dear heveny Father God.
(05:44):
I just thank you God for allowing us to come
into your presence this morning. Lord. I thank you Lord
for all that you've done. I thank you for all
the things that you're doing. We just want to say
thank you. We thank you for being our our but father.
We thank you for being our Eloween, our creator. We
thank you for being our Jehovah Jarer, our provider. We
(06:05):
thank you, Lord for being our Jehovah Rafi, our healer.
We thank you for being that I am that encompasses
everything that we are, that you are, and everything that
we will ever hope for in our need. Lord, we
just thank you today.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
We thank you Jesus for coming and dining on the
cross for our sins so that we may have life
and have it more abundantly. Lord, we ask right now
that you will touch every veteran right now that's feeling alone,
that's feeling depressed, that's feeling suicidal, that's worried, having an
anxiety panic PTSD. Lord, we ask that you will touch
(06:43):
them right now, in the name of Jesus. Let them
know that you are with them. You will never leave them,
nor forsake them. You are there, even in their loneliest feelings.
Right now, Lord, that they are they are not alone,
that you are with them, and all they have to
do is turn and look to you. Lord. We ask
right now that every active duty personnel, Lord, that you
(07:06):
will be with them, Lord, even as some are maybe
transitioning now and they have a little anxiety and wary
fear whatever. That you didn't give us a spirit of fear,
but you gave us the spirit of power, love and
a sound mind, and so we can always come to you.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Lord.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
We ask or that you will be with the first
responders right now, in the name of Jesus. Lord, we
ask that you will be with the doctors and the
nurses right now. Lord, in the name of Jesus, we
pray that you will be with every chapelain that ministers
to the veterans and those that minister to the active duty. Lord,
that they will Minister, in accordance with your will. In
(07:46):
the name of Jesus, we pray for those family servicemen,
the families of those that are serving and have served, Lord,
that even though they may be separated during this time
of year, that they will not be alone, that they
will not feel alone, but they will fill your presence.
(08:06):
In the name of Jesus, Lord, we ask Lord that
you will bring divine connections. Lord, where no one feels alone,
no one feels by themselves, Lord, but you will bring
divine connections for them. Lord, are day by you in
the name of Jesus. We just thank you in advance
(08:27):
for the things that you are going to do, Lord,
the things that you're already working on, the things you've
already stepped ahead of time and worked out. Lord, we
asked all these things. And your son's name, Jesus, you're
sure a Hummershick. Thank God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, today
(08:49):
we're I wanna actually I want to go to the
Word of God as always and and we're gonna talk
about something that might touch the heart of many many people.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
And again is dealing is dealing with loneliness, is dealing
with loneliness, And so I want to go to the
Book of Second Kings, the Book of Second Kings, and
this is dealing with a woman who did not have
(09:29):
any children. She was married, but her husband was old.
He was older, and it doesn't exactly give his age,
but the Bible lets us know that he was older
and they didn't have any children. And we often see
this in many stories in the Bible and biblical times,
where you were known to be successful, prosperous, blessed by
(09:54):
God if you had children. But we see that sometimes
God delayed giving a couple children because he had a
special anointing on the child that he was going to
give them. They may have thought their time was up,
their time was over. They may have felled alone.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
They may have felt with whether we're gonna do in
our old age? We have no children, we have no
one to care for us. But but God, he's always
looking out for us. He's always caring for us. And
so I want to go to Second King's chapter four
and verse stunt at verse eight. Second Kings, Chapter four
(10:35):
and stunt at verse eight, because it tells the story
about this woman and this and her husband who was
kind to the prophet Elisha, and Elisha he went he
often came to their house, went to their house, and
they welcomed him with open arms. And so I want
to just read this because they could have possibly maybe
(10:58):
have been in the state where they didn't have any children,
were they felt maybe alone even though they were married,
but the empty house, not having a pitopattern, maybe seeing
other people with their children, and it could maybe bring
about a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of uncertainty.
(11:19):
Maybe she would have wondered, well, what am I gonna do,
you know, should my husband pass and I have no
children or whatever, and that can bring about some feelings
of anxiety, some feelings of weary, some feelings of just
wandering and concern of maybe even some feelings of loneliness,
where as her husband was out working and she may
(11:40):
have maybe been a little alone. So we never know
what kind of feelings that she had per se but
you can only imagine what she may have been going through.
Many couples and even in today's time, don't have children,
and so it can bring a little bit of loneliness
to maybe that mother or that father that's wishing so
(12:03):
deeply to have someone to hold, someone to love, someone
to care for, and so on Second King, chapter four,
and starting at verse eight, it says, one day Elisha
went to Shunem and a well to do woman was
there who urged him to stay for a meal. So
(12:24):
whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She
said to her husband, I know, this man who often
comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's
make a small room on the roof and put it
and put in it a bed and a chair and
a table and a lamp for him. Then he can
(12:46):
stay there whenever he comes to us. So you had
this well to do woman, this husband his wife, and
they figure, oh, this is a holy man of God,
and he often comes here when they he comes to town,
they often inviting him to eat. So they said, well,
you know what, let's do. Let's go a step beyond.
(13:06):
We want to make sure that he's comfortable. He doesn't
have to find anywhere to stay when he comes to town.
So we're gonna go and we're gonna make some arrangements
at the top of our roof. Now there houses during
that time was different than the way we have houses today.
Many of us we weren't. We wouldn't be able to
(13:27):
have someone to stay on the roof, they'll fall off.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Okay, they'll fall off because we have the shingles and
the and the slants, you know, to make sure that
when the water is coming down that it's not gonna
collapse the house.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Due to the pressure of the water. So our structures
are a little bit different than they were in biblical times.
But obviously during this time it was where there was
a flat roof where they can go up and make
it comfortable for someone to be able to reside up there.
So they put a table, they put a bed, they
(14:04):
put a lamp, and made it where he would be
able to stay comfortably when he came to town. So
one day in verse eleven, one day when Elisha came,
he went up to his room and lay there. He
said to his servant, Ghazi called the Shumamite woman. So
(14:25):
he called her, and he stood before and she stood
before him. Elisha said to him, tell her, you have
gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can
be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf
to the king or the commander of the army, she said.
She replied, I have a home among my own people.
(14:47):
So what Elisha was wanting to do, he was wanting
to repay her in kindness, and he asked, can I
give a word to the king? Can I give a
word to command and officer? Is there's something that you
need that I can do for you? And one thing
that God does is when we are kind to his servants,
(15:08):
when we are kind to other people, when we do
things out of selflessness, because we live in a selfish,
narcissistic society these days. But when we are self less
and we give of our all to bless the Kingdom
of God, to bless others, because Jesus said, when you
do unto the least of them, you've done it unto me.
(15:29):
So when we're doing unto others, we have also done
unto God. And so he was wanting to do something
for her because they had went out third way, her
and her husband to help him to be comfortable when
he came to the city. And so she said that
you know, I already have a home. She was already
(15:52):
well to do. So she cann't really think of anything
that she would want that the king go the command
that could even do for her. But Gahaza Gaghazi said, well,
she has no son and her husband is old, so
let's pay attention here. You have two things. She has
(16:13):
no son and her husband is old. So what the
Elisia's servant was actually saying is that, you know, she
doesn't have an air, she doesn't have anyone that would
care for her and her old age, and her husband
is already old. So it seems it seems that Gahazi
(16:33):
was saying that, you know, hey, she's gonna be alone.
If it should her husband pass or something happened, she
would have no one. And because they don't, they didn't
have any children. Then Elisha called said call her. So
he called her, and she's stood in the doorway. Now
we're not talking about a car, a cell phone or
(16:53):
a landline. They didn't have phones back in these days.
So he had to actually the servant had to actually
go get her. Her call upon her, and so she
came before the prophet, and so he told her about
this time next year. Elisia said, you will hold a
son in your arms. Does that remind you of something?
(17:15):
Does that remind you of what the Lord said to
Sarah that you know, in her old age? Because she
laughed when God told Abraham that this time next year
that she was gonna have a son. So Sarah laughed.
She thought, hey, I'm too old. This is funny.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
And so God called her out on it and said
you laugh, and then she got scared.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Oh no, one didn't laugh, you know, but she did.
He said, yes, you did. And so the same thing here,
Alicia said, you know what, this time next year, you're
gonna have a child. But then the woman she said, no,
my lord, she objected, don't mislead your servant, oh man
of God. And so she was like, you know what,
(18:00):
they may have tried to have children all throughout the years,
but no child ever came. But see, one thing, we know,
everything is always in God's timy. So we may want
something at a particular time and it may not be
the time that God has ordained for that to happen. However,
(18:21):
it was her time. It was her time. So he
told her that the next year. And see she probably said, oh,
you know what, I've prayed for this for so long.
I've desired for this for so long. Have there ever
been something that you've longed for? So if you're dealing
with loneliness, you might be saying, I long for companionship,
(18:41):
I long for friendship, I loan for something in my
life where I will not feel alone. So you can
imagine what she felt. And she didn't want to get
her hopes up, so her immediate response was, no, Lord,
don't prophet, don't deceive me, you know, don't don't get
my hopes up only for them to be let down.
(19:04):
She may have had her hopes so for so many years,
and then she finally said, you know, what I've given
up is not gonna happen. She may have been settled that, hey,
this is my destiny is not meant to be, and
she probably let it go. But then in verse seventeen,
it says, but the woman became pregnant, and the next year,
(19:26):
about that same time, she gave birth to a son,
just as Elicia had told her. And we're gonna stop
right there. And so she no longer was alone, you know,
even though she had her husband, but now they had
the joy of a much wanted, desired child, and she
(19:53):
was blessed to no longer have an empty house that
did not have any pillow pattern or anything in it.
She was not alone. She now was a mother. And
the Lord never wants us to feel lonely. Even if
you are alone, you don't have to feel lonely, and
(20:17):
God has many different ways to help those who are
feeling alone. We're going to take a quick break and
we'll be back in just a moment.
Speaker 7 (20:37):
Alond, it's come.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Fred, let hand heaven and nature, Heaven, nature.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
She the lomu.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
It's three part. That's say.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Something fall, say.
Speaker 7 (21:53):
Your hand, say thank you. They shout to the star, shout.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
Say you.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Want to say, and that is the same John my loudy.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
They shout, un.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
John, try.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
The sky please.
Speaker 7 (22:46):
House for today.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
To ca ship said.
Speaker 9 (23:54):
Say to peace, joy.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Sat s.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Hey, Joy to the world. And that is by the
late Whitney Houston. We want some joy. Come on now,
we want some joy. Joy to the world, and we
can be glad that Jesus came and died so that
we may have life and have it more abundantly. And
(25:34):
the word lets us know that the joy. Come on now.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on now,
all right. So we're gonna be talking about loneliness. Loneliness.
Are many veterans you may be dealing with loneliness, and
(25:56):
I want to I want to just go through that
because we're human beings down here and we deal with
a lot of different issues and not everyone's issues are
the same. And if someone is dealing with loneliness, this
is not some time to take jabs as a person,
(26:17):
criticize them and everything will you know, you know how
sometimes people can be. But sometimes people really feel alone,
really feel alone, they have even a chronic loneliness about them.
And so I want to read something. This is from
very wellmind dot com, very well Mind dot com, and
(26:40):
it says in twenty twenty three, the US Surgeon General
said loneliness had become a new kind of insidious epidemic
in America. And that's worth talking about. And yes it is,
it's very much worth talking about. Chronic loneliness is profound
a loneeness from being involuntarily isolated from meaning for relationships
(27:05):
for a long period of time. You may be around
others but still feel like you are an island of yourself.
And this is what some people can get mixed up,
where they say, oh, well, they're around a lot of people.
But the thing is, you can be around a lot
of people and still feel lonely. You have a lot
of people that are married and they still feel lonely.
(27:29):
They're lonely within the marriage so just because you're around
a lot of people, and most people that feel lonely,
they have jobs, careers, they may be a student, they
may be around a whole bunch of people, but you
still feel like you are on an island by yourself.
You ever seen those pictures where you have maybe one
(27:52):
hundred balls that's all green, and then you have that
one that stands out that's white. Okay, so you feel
that way. You might feel that you are by yourself.
This could have started as a child, they could have
gone into your adulthood, or you may just have a
(28:13):
hard time just just building relationships because guess what, when
you're born, no one gives you a handbook of how
to not be lonely. No one gives you a handbook
of how do I make friends? No one gives you
that handbook. Okay, this is something that oftentimes you normally
have to just try to navigate through and try to
(28:33):
Most of us, I've had to try to figure it
out or whatever, you know, and some have a natural
flow of being able to be a magnet where everybody
just navigates to them and others not so much. And
this is not a defect in you, So don't think that, oh, well,
because I'm not this natural social butterfly, that there's something
(28:58):
wrong with me. No, soh, there's nothing wrong with you.
We all have our gifts, we all have our talents.
Just sometimes that that social that social butterfly may not
be your strongest suit, and that's okay, that's okay. But
then this is something that hey, we can try to
(29:19):
change if possible, but first it has to start on
the inside. And so one of the things you might say, well,
what is a sign of that I have chronic loneliness?
Well do you feel do you have like mood swings
where you have low mood, your melancholy? Do you have
a problem sleeping? Do you lack of you don't have
(29:44):
that affection, You don't have any affection and warmth from
within and from other people. Do you lack physical activity
because you just don't feel like doing anything or you
don't feel like being around anyone. Have you either gain
weight or lost a lot of weight? Because sometimes when
people lonely, they'll go, you know, turn to food. We
(30:06):
all have that comfort food sometimes that we like, and
so you can either go to the extreme of gaining
or the extreme of losing. Are you in poor physical health.
Do you have pain and joints in your body, because
let me just say this, sometimes the way you're feeling
on the inside, it overflows into other areas of your body.
(30:30):
Do you have impulsive behaviors where you're shopping a lot,
or you're gambling, or things you're drinking, things that are
not conducive to being in a best in the best
mood or in the or stable frame of mind. Do
you have an unhealthy diet. Sometimes when you're not feeling
(30:53):
your best, you might grab the wrong things, or or
it might be eating the wrong things that can cause
you to feel in certain types of moods. Do you
have a history or you're dealing with substance abuse If
you're doing our alcohol or drugs or whatever, that can
(31:14):
also cause you to feel isolated, or you're isolating yourself
because you don't want others to know what you're dealing with.
Do you have negative thoughts? Are you dealing with anxiety, panic, weary, stressed?
These are things that can cause you to feel isolated
or you depressed. You're dealing with a lot of unhappiness.
(31:37):
Are you feeling that you're worthless? You're feeling like you've
been abandoned, or you might be abandoning someone. So these
are things that you might be that might be signs
that you have chronic loneliness. Now, a lot of times
around this time of year, you have a lot of
(31:58):
people there. It's veterans rather, it's seniors. Even those on
active duty can be can feel alone. You might be
around a lot of different people, but you feel alone
because you're not maybe in a familiar environment. You might
have just entered the military and you're you know, you're
(32:19):
feeling a little kind of displaced because this is something
that's new to you, so you haven't maybe connected with
people just yet. You might be dealing with the separation
of not being home for the holidays, so you're feeling
maybe a little lonely, a little homesick. So there's different
types of loneliness. You have situational loneliness that occurs when
(32:44):
you experience an event in an environment such as a
personal conflict, a significant move, a career change, a pandemic,
and let me just speak speaking of pandemics. We know
that a lot of people felt isolated when we dealt
with C nineteen because people but during the time when
we weren't shut downs and and people weren't mingling and
(33:04):
they weren't able to go with their friends, or children
were feeling lonely because they weren't able to go to
school and they weren't bab being able to be around others.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
A lot of people felt lonely when they were required
to wear a mass because everything you weren't uh able
to be personal with other people. It kind of uh
the six feet distance uh separation where I can't hug,
I can't touch, cause we're not meant to be isolated.
We're meant to be in community. Then you have a
(33:35):
developmental loneliness that happens when you experience a physical or
psychological event such as an inconsistent home, lifestyle, poverty, UH,
developmental problems, a loss. So this developmental loneliness can it
It can be things that may have occurred during your
life that caused you to maybe isolate or d uh
(33:57):
caused you to have to be uh separate rated due
to certain issues. And then you have an internal loneliness
that manifests when you experience an internal event such as anxiety, depression,
low self esteem, of guilt, and other issues. Let me
just say that when you're dealing with loneliness. This is
(34:21):
something that you really would want to talk to someone
about because it can have a lot of effects in
other areas of your life. As we mentioned earlier. Earlier,
it can cause you to have stress, heart disease, high
blood pressure, suicidal thoughts, or even attempted attempting to carry
it out OBCD premature death. A lot of people die
(34:47):
because they are lonely. They feel like no one loves them,
no one cares for them. And so one thing you
might say, well, how do I get over the loneliness
or how do I deal with it in order to
be able to move forward where I don't feel lonely. Well,
(35:08):
one of the things that is important to is to
give yourself self care. Self care that means take care
of you. That means make sure I get the proper
nutrition I need, make sure I get enough sleep, not
overdoing it, but get the proper amount of sleep. Make
sure that I join a community. Even if you feel like, well,
(35:32):
you know what, I'm not the best social butterfly, but
just go if you want to, just join, whether it's
a gym or a group or a church or something
that helps promote where you're not feeling isolated where you
can be around people. You might have a hobby that
you do, join a class if you faith. For example,
(35:55):
you might like doing art, you might like painting. Well,
join an art class as with other people that have
common things that you know, have things in common with
what your interests are, so that you will not feel
so isolated. Another thing is to not be hard on yourself.
(36:17):
So make sure that you're not not running negative marathons
in your head. Well I'm not this, I'm not that.
I haven't accomplished this, I haven't accomplished that, and therefore
you isolate. Because sometimes we can self isolate because we
feel like, hey, I haven't achieved what others have achieved.
(36:38):
And one thing that is important to never do is
compare ourselves to other people. You may be running the race,
but that person might be a little faster, you might
be a little slower. It doesn't matter. We don't have
to compare ourselves to other people. We're each running our
own rays. Another thing that's good to do is to
(37:03):
talk to other people about it. You know, your loved ones,
Maybe tell them, hey, you know, i'm feeling a little
you know, displaced, I'm feeling a little lonely, and so
maybe spend some time with loved ones who appreciate, who value,
who care about you. Another thing that can help is
(37:25):
to volunteer. Around this time of year, around anytime, you
can volunteer to help others, and it can take your
mind off of your own loneliness, your own situation because
you are doing for someone else. I love having pets.
(37:48):
You know, I'm not married, I don't have children, but
I have four big babies. I have two cats and
two dogs, so I have my pets that are my children.
So this can also help you with loneliness. Another thing
is talk to a therapist. Talk to a therapist. If
(38:09):
you feel like this is something that you're really going
to need to walk with someone that's going to help you,
then you need to talk to a therapist. And there's
nothing wrong with talking to someone who can help you
to navigate that particular situation. So I want to give
(38:32):
you all some resource for veterans. Veteran programs that help
to support VA programs that help to support veterans who
are struggling with loneliness, and it's called Compassionate Contact Corps.
Compassionate Contact Corpse combats loneliness. And so I want to
(38:56):
read you a little bit from the VA News dot
gov and it says since the pandemic, a new virtual
social prescribing program has resonated with veterans and volunteers alike.
It's called Compassionate Contact Corps. This program highlights the power
of genuine human connection and combating loneliness and improving mental
(39:21):
health outcomes. Compassionate Contact Corps is a non clinical program.
A train volunteer preferably from the community, is matched with
a veteran that has been identified by their clinician as
potentially benefiting from additional social connection. The volunteer phones the
(39:42):
veteran weekly, usually for fifteen to sixty minutes of meaningful conversation.
It has become a signature program of American Red Cross
and Soldiers' Angels, and there is significant participation from other
veteran services of veterans service organizations helping to come back
(40:03):
this issue. So this is a program that the v
that the VA has has organized to help veterans that
deal with uh UH or they struggle with loneliness. So
if you are dealing with this, then please talk to
(40:23):
someone at the VA. If you are veteran or even
if you're on active duty, talk to you know, talk
to your doctor if you're able to talk to your
doctor so that they can help you and you can
get those connections that you need. Also, if you are
(40:45):
if you know someone that may be dealing with this.
You may not be dealing with this yourself, but if
you know someone who may be feeling a little isolated
and lonely, uh, then maybe you can be that point
of contact for that tickle a person. You know, sometimes
it's easy to pass things off to others to do
(41:05):
when God has put us down here to be that
blessing to other people. I know that when I was
in the military, when I had first joined and I
actually had my nineteenth birthday in boot camp, and I
had later on got stationed to Wiby Island, Washington, and
(41:29):
so I know it was God that allowed me to
connect with this family that I had been friends for
for years, even after I had gotten out the military,
and it was like they were like family away from family.
And so I would encourage you to be that source
(41:52):
of contact for someone, especially when you're dealing with young
people that are in the military. You just never know.
Just being a friend, reaching out, inviting them over and
even outside of you know, you might say I invite
them to church, but even going over and beyond, so
(42:12):
that they would know that they are not alone. All right,
we are a body here. I pray that you all
have a blessed and wonderful holiday. If you are following
me on Facebook, don't forget that on Christmas Eve, December
(42:37):
twenty fourth, which is on a Tuesday, we're gonna have
a sing that tune. That's what it is finished in
times ministrits. We're gonna have a sing that tune and
there's gonna be different people who are gonna be doing
short clips of singing, whether it's a Christianas song, a
Christmas curl or Christmas song, and they're actually submitting. If
(42:59):
you want to anticipate, you can submit to evangelist ko
Rich at yahoo dot com evangelist ko Rich at yahoo
dot com, and you can you can submit me a
thirty second to maybe a two minute clip of you
singing something, and I can err on the broadcast for
(43:19):
it is finished on Christmas Eve. You know, God loves you,
and he loves our veterans, he loves our first responders,
he loves our active duty service and we know that
God Israel. They had armies, they had kings, and they
song were good and some were bad. But the main
(43:41):
thing is making sure that whatever area you serve, that
you serve the Lord first and foremost. All Right, we
are a body here that says doctor ko Rich, your
navy veteran, and I pray did you have a blessed
and wonderful Christmas Us and we would be back January
(44:02):
the second. Until next time, Thanks for.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Tuning in to Veterans in Christ. We pray that you
found today's podcast informative and we look forward to being
with you again during the next podcast. May the Lord
bless and keep you going out and coming in.
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