The chorus:
‘And I’m glad to be an American
Where for now at least we’re free
And I won’t forget that Jesus died
So I can live in eternity
And I’ll gladly stand up for my Lord
And defend Him still today
Cuz there ain’t no doubt I love my God
And pray for the USA.’
4-23-93
I am quite the introvert. However, that does not mean that I’m shy. On the contrary, I’m actually rather outgoing and am fine meeting new people and carrying on casual conversations. What makes me an introvert is my need for alone time to rejuvenate and rebuild my energy levels. I cannot spend extended time around people without getting exhausted.
How do I reconcile this part of my personality with my being a Christian and the need to be in community with other Christians? This is an ongoing struggle for me and something that I have to balance on a regular basis. I find that getting together with others on a one-to-one basis is not as draining for me and allows me to experience fellowship and encouragement without becoming overly exhausted. Being in groups of people is much more draining for me. This makes it difficult for me to participate in a small group, for even a small group is usually several people. Church on Sunday mornings is do-able, but I’m useless the rest of the day, needing to go home and nap to rejuvenate after the social and worship experience in the morning with a large group of people. I need to plan my weekends that I don’t over-do socialization or I end up stressed out and get sick.
As a Christian, I think it’s important to be with other believers and encourage each other. I can’t live my life in isolation. Yet I also have to watch my health needs and not over-stress myself. It is a constant battle and struggle of balance for me.
How about you? If you are an introvert, how do you balance that with the need for spending time with others?
I actually wrote this several years ago and thought I’d re-post with it being Mother’s Day weekend.
My take on Mother’s Day: Mother’s Day is a great holiday and one in which we can honor our mothers and the impact they have had on our lives. However, for many people, this is a painful holiday. Perhaps because they long to be mothers themselves. For others, their own mother has passed away or they don’t have a good relationship. Perhaps they live far away from family.
For the childfree, Mother’s Day can be a good opportunity to spend time with our own mothers, thanking them for all they’ve done for us. But Mother’s Day can seem artificial and superfluous since we are not mothers ourselves. In Christian circles, most churches seem to emphasize mothers on this particular day, making it difficult for the childfree to feel comfortable going to church on this holiday. Even if not being mothers is a choice that we have made, the over-emphasis on this particular holiday can be difficult to endure.
While honoring our mothers is important, it is also important to remember that not being a mother is fine too. In many ways, we can offer our contributions of being women to society without the motherhood aspect. We all have unique abilities and gifts which we can offer to others. Often our time and money is freed to contribute to important and worthwhile endeavors. For the childfree that like children, being a part of children’s lives while not being the parent can be very rewarding. Perhaps we can make a difference in a child’s life.
And to add:
Let’s honor our mothers while being sensitive to those who struggle with this holiday. While it is important to be sensitive to this issue, I do not think the answer is offering gifts to all women so some don’t feel left out. That devalues the point of it being Mother’s Day and honoring mothers. It just turns it into Women’s Day instead. We can honor mothers, while also pointing out that there are many ways that women contribute to those around them even without being a physical mother. Not everyone is called to be a mother. We are called as Christians to glorify God in whatever we do, whatever stage in life we are currently in, we are to follow God and honor Him with our lives, whether that be through motherhood, through friendship, through marriage, through singleness, through mentoring, through our jobs or anything else that God leads us to be involved in.
Sojourner Between Worlds 