I asked a friend to give me some photos that he took at Youth Conference last June. I took hundreds of photos that week but had few pictures of Paige and nothing of myself. I was hoping that someone had taken a picture of us when we were riding horses, but there weren’t any.
As I went through hundreds of pictures, I found a pattern in where I can be found in big groups. I am usually on the perimeter, watching silently. I started to feel pity for that woman who never seemed to be in the middle of things, but I caught myself as I entered this trap that would make me feel of less value.
I have good relationships with the youth, but it’s through individual conversations, teaching Sunday lessons, and writing that these relationships have been made. From the perimeter, I see many things that people in the middle of the action can miss. There is a place for each kind of personality. And I can join in the middle of things, too. It’s just not where I spend most of my time.
Hooray for the introverts of the world. (I’m not saying that the above people are introverts.) We seek to know people on a deep level, we think before we speak, and we watch before we join in a group or a conversation. When we talk to people, you can be sure that we are investing our hearts and a lot of energy to the conversation. These are all great attributes.