No, really, I am! I love to shop alone, drive alone, relax alone, think on my own. I’m a re-charge on my own kind of person.
“Rachael, you do realize you are going to be spending the next 11 months with nothing but PEOPLE right??”
Yes, and if I’m being real, this is one of the hardest aspects of the Race for me: COMMUNITY.
My personality type is ISFJ-that ‘I’ stands for Introvert. That doesn’t meant I don’t enjoy people or being around them, just when I am I tend to keep thoughts to myself, observe/listen instead of speak up…I’m definitely not your “life of the party” type. I guess you could say in group settings I close up a little. Or a lot.
The past couple years it’s been a real struggle for me to want to get involved in small groups within my church/people I know. It’s not like “big church.” In a small group setting you actually have to talk, let people encourage you and encourage others at the same time. It’s a more intimate environment (people get REAL!). That may seem like no big deal for all you personality types that start with an ‘E’ (for Extrovert), but for us introverts, it can be quite the mountain to climb. Over the past couple months God’s really laid it on my heart to get more involved, step out of this comfort zone (because, hey, I’m about to step into 11 months of being out of my comfort zone), and I’m soo glad He did!
God has been preparing my heart for the race in many ways, but one of them is this:
FELLOWSHIP WITH BELIEVERS IS SO GOOD FOR THE SOUL!!
We were not made to do this life alone…at all! Go all the way back to Genesis, God says, “It is not good for man to be ALONE.” We NEED one another! The body of Christ is made up of so many beautiful people, and God calls us to ONE body, ONE spirit, ONE baptism, ONE faith…not each individual saying “I have my faith, you have yours” and doing their own thing hoping it makes a difference in the world. Ephesians 4 talks about everyone in the body coming together, doing their part, speaking the truth in LOVE. That’s how we grow as a community/body, and that is the beauty of the church.
My squad will be made up of many people, with many gifts, talents and personality types, ALL of which God has a purpose for. And I do not want to be afraid of getting to know all these wonderful people, missing out on awesome growth opportunities individually and as a community.
So I am ready to NOT be a loner, and be a part of this amazing community called the W squad 🙂
