Mingling

I am not naturally gifted at mingling.  I much prefer the comfort of chatting with people I know, in my own little space of the room.  Unfortunately, one aspect of being married to a pastor is that you mingle.  You mingle after church with the congregation and you mingle at events.  I've worked at it over the past few years and I think I'm getting better at it.  Having a baby in arms helps, a lot - they are ice breakers.  And I find it easy to talk to the older ladies who are just delighted with the kids and delighted at the work your husband is doing at the church.  I find the older ladies have a lot of stories to tell and are often glad to have another ear to listen to them.  The more difficult part, for me, is approaching new-comers, helping to make them feel comfortable at a church event or church setting.  Getting beyond the "hi, my name is Kristen" part.  Again, having little ones help (everybody loves a baby) and it also helps if they have kids.  Common ground.  I guess that is the biggest thing, trying to find common ground with a complete stranger in a relatively short period of time, isn't it.