When you move to a new city, it can be hard to fit in. To feel like you belong there. In missions, we talk about the idea of finding a POP. A person of peace. Someone who will invite you into their home. They’ll feed you and welcome you into their lives. Up for conversation and becoming closer on a deeper level.
I wonder what it would be like if we applied some of the same principles when we were moving to new places in general. When we move to a new city for work, don’t just try and find any random people, but search for the people who will invite you into their community. Who will welcome you into their lives?
One of the hardest things when I moved to Austin was that it was so easy to meet people for the first time, but because there are so many people who are new here, no one had a community to invite you into. You could only go out to coffee with someone so many times before you run out of conversation topics. You need to be able to have a community that you can invite them into so that they can feel welcomed. Similarly, when we go to a new place, if we look for the people who already have that community of people and that hospitable attitude, I think we’d be much better served as it comes to feeling at home int he new places that we go.
Don’t just go anywhere. Find the people of peace who will welcome you in. They’re out there. You just may need to look a little harder.