Lonely in Midlife? I Was So Wrong About Women

I would have rather worked with 20 men than 3 women. I'm very glad to say that I was so wrong.

That's a hard sentence for a woman who now spends her days serving women. But it's true. And if you've been feeling lonely in midlife, even in a full church on Sunday morning, I think my story might be for you.

Here's what the research says first. In December 2025, AARP reported that 40% of adults 45 and older are lonely, up from 35% in 2018. For adults ages 45 to 59, it was 46%. Nearly half. And 45% of the lonely people in that research said they have fewer friends now than they did five years ago.

That's a lot of us sitting in pews, at ballgames and at supper tables, surrounded by people, with no one to call.

What I believed about women

I started leading young. For most of my career, I thought I didn't like working with women.

The rare ones I loved were focused. They weren't petty. They weren't jealous. They weren't keeping score. But with others, I felt a wedge. Some of the gossip hurt me, and I carried that hurt a long time.

So I kept a little distance, and I told myself that was just how women are.

What I see now

Looking back, I see it differently. Much of what hurt me came from hurt. Some of those women were reacting to the load they carried, while I, as the boss, pushed them to do more and do the hard things. They weren't against me. They were tired, and they were carrying more than I knew.

Now that I'm older, and I've lived what I've lived, I see the beauty of women. We want to create a whole environment where the people we love can flourish. And when we can't do it the way we want, we feel like failures.

That isn't pettiness. That's love that has run out of room.

It's a little ironic that God later called me to help women. I see the old hurt now as a seedbed. Something good grew up out of it.

Lonely in midlife: why friendships slip, and why they matter

The longest study of adult life I know of is the Harvard Study of Adult Development. It began in 1938 and has followed its participants for nearly 80 years. Its clearest finding, reported in the Harvard Gazette in 2017: close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives. The people who were most satisfied in their relationships at 50 were the healthiest at 80. The study's director put it simply: tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too.

Read that again with your coffee. Your friendships aren't extra. They're part of taking care of the body and mind God gave you.

And yet in midlife, friendship is usually the first thing we drop. Not because we stop loving people, but because the calendar fills with everybody's needs, and coffee with a friend feels like something we'll do "after the holidays."

Two women who stuck

I've always been fascinated by the women of the Bible, and one of my favorite pictures of friendship is Naomi and Ruth. Naomi had lost nearly everything. She told her daughter-in-law to go back home, where life would be easier. Ruth wouldn't hear of it:

"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:" Ruth 1:16

Naomi walked into Bethlehem bitter and empty-handed. By the end of the book, the women of that town are gathered around her, blessing the Lord with her. She didn't get there alone. A woman stuck by her, and a town full of women rejoiced with her.

That's the kind of friendship I was missing all those years. That's the kind God still builds.

One thing to try today

The research is clear that relationships matter. So here's one simple thing, and it only takes a few minutes. Think of one woman you've been meaning to call. Not text. Call. On your drive home or while the coffee brews, dial her number and say, "I was thinking about you."

That's it. You don't need a plan. You just need to pick up the phone.

Picture a fuller table

Now picture this with me. It's December. You're at a table with women of every age, and somebody tells a story that makes the whole table laugh until someone snorts and that makes it worse. The coffee goes cold because nobody wants to get up. A woman you barely knew in October waves at you across the church parking lot like you've been friends for years.

That's not a fantasy. That's what happens when women decide to stop keeping score and start keeping each other.

Come sit with a room full of women Nov 12

This is a big part of why we're gathering for Make Room for You: An Evening Before the Season Begins.

Thursday, November 12, the doors open at 6:30 with a coffee bar and a Self-Care Marketplace with local self-care makers. At 7:00 we'll worship and sit still with God for a few minutes. You'll write one thing you're carrying and leave it in the Lay It Down basket. We'll move a little, chair-friendly, to an upbeat worship song. You'll take home three cards for the season. And there's the Joy Jar, door prizes, a photo booth, and a room full of women who'll laugh with you.

It's free, in the Youth Center at Meades Branch Freewill Baptist Church, 9 Vanhoose Hollow, Louisa. Save your seat at Make Room for You or text (606) 483-1001. A seat count helps us plan the coffee, the handouts and the chairs.

And bring her. The woman you just called.

I was so wrong about women. I'm so glad.

If loneliness has turned into something heavier than a busy season, please talk with your pastor, a counselor, or your doctor.

What the research says

AARP, "New AARP Research: Loneliness Is on the Rise, Affecting 4 in 10 Older Adults" (Dec 3, 2025): https://www.aarp.org/press/releases/2025-12-3-new-aarp-research-loneliness-is-on-the-rise-affecting-4-in-10-older-adults

Harvard Gazette, "Good genes are nice, but joy is better" (Harvard Study of Adult Development, Apr 11, 2017): https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/