Bloom Where You're Planted: 5/12/13

Monday, May 13, 2013

Following My Own Advice: Part 1

A couple of years ago, I wrote a little series called Bloomin' Monday: Making the Most of Moving to a New Town. (If you're interested, you can either click that link or where it says Moving at the top of this page.) Well, since we're moving again in less than a week, I am getting the chance to once again put those ideas into practice. Want to know how it's going so far?

Step One is about things that can be done before the move even takes place. And I'm not talking about packing, forwarding the mail, getting services set up, etc. - although those things are certainly important. I'm talking about social things. Believe it or not, it is possible to begin making friends while you are still several states away.

I am thrilled to tell you that my kids and I have already been invited on a play date in our new town. How did that happen? I joined a Facebook group. Since we're homeschoolers, I was particularly interested in meeting other homeschoolers in the area, so I joined a group, introduced myself, posted a question, and the responses began to come in. One person (Hi, Amy!) took it a step further to reach out to me, and I instantly felt more comfortable and excited about our new hometown.

God also has a way of orchestrating things if you ask Him and are open to seeing His hand in things. The first time we went to Rome (Georgia, that is), back in March, we had looked at some houses. Before heading back out of town, we returned to a neighborhood we were considering (and where we are now moving) to check out another house that was For Sale By Owner. It turned out that the house was already under contract and the price was too high for us, but for some reason (God!) the people invited us in, anyway. We met a wonderful, homeschooling family who were moving to start a church plant in Maine. She told me all about the local homeschool groups (one of which she helped to start), gave us some great info on local churches, and told us things about the neighborhood that our Realtor didn't know. And under the "It's a Small World" category, her parents own the Denny's here in Fort Smith!

So, if you're planning an upcoming move, what can you do to meet people before you even move? And if you've already moved in (whether 3 days or 3 years ago), what can you do today to become more connected to your community? How can you Bloom Where You're Planted?