Today is the 5th Monday of the month. 

These are the odd weeks.  The shifting week.  Starting with one month and ending with another, you never know quite which month you are supposed to act in.  Which month’s goals do you focus on?  Which month’s bills do you pay? This is the week that I share a struggle. 

You all know that my family recently moved.  I had lived in our previous location for 27 years.  That's a long time.  As an introvert, it took me many years to build and develop friendships.  Now that we've moved, I have to start over.  And not just that.  I have to model for my children how to make new friends too, and I doubt that I'll have 27 years in which to do it. 

You know what the hardest thing is? Saying hi.  It doesn't matter if another person smiles or seems interested in the same activities.  Literally, opening my mouth and saying, 'hi', is the hardest thing ever.  It shows a vulnerability. It's like it's obvious to the whole world that I'm looking for a friend.    

As an introvert, I had the perfect number of friends back home.  Thanks to technology, I'm able to keep them. Unfortunately, that means that I don't even know how I'd manage more friendships, and I assume that everyone I meet is dealing with the same problem.  It goes something like this: 

Me: Oh that lady has a young man with her during the day.  She must home school.  I should introduce myself. But I already have more friends than I can handle, but Eli needs a friend.  But she probably already has more friends than she can handle too, and who am I to barge in on her perfect friendships? 

Is that not the most irrational thought process that you've ever seen? But it's what we do.  We talk ourselves out of doing things. Good things.  Things that God clearly wants us to do.  

The next time that I see another mom in the store, or the rec center, or church, I'm going to walk up to her and 'just say hi'. 

What are you talking yourself out of?