When you move into a community, it’s an odd feeling not knowing who you’re going to connect with. Who are going to be your friends. If you’re outgoing, pretty soon, before you even realize it, you have more friends than you can spend time with and your community has expanded extensively.
When doing ministry, you there is a tendency to stretch yourself too thin. You have so many connections and people you care about and are trying to pour into that you no longer have time for each of them. You started out trying to get connected with anyone you can, made some friends, then found some later on that you hit it off even better with and now you’re hard-pressed between the two because you enjoy both, but you don’t know where your time is better served.
I thought of a weird analogy to help explain it. It’s like food. When you’re going to eat, you have all this new food (the new friends and opportunities). You also have a bunch of leftovers that at some point need to be eaten, but now they’re not quite as fresh as they once were and they’re starting to dry out. You don’t know which one to choose. Both have pros and cons, but you don’t think you can finish both meals.
I’ve realized the importance of making sure you choose your time wisely when you move into a place. I haven’t mastered what this looks like, but it’s something I want to work on.