I'm an Extrovert...Introvert
Is it any wonder that this is a possibility?! I mean growing up in a family like mine could drive the most bubbly person into "hermitdom"! When you grow up in a huge family you are never alone... for crying out loud, I would go to the bathroom and the next thing I know the boys had locked me in!!! (talk about being forced into being an introvert.) My brothers are awesome! I love every single one of them and wouldn't have wanted to grow up with anyone else but, there are only so many times a little girl can play "WAR." The worst part was they wouldn't even let me have a pretend gun and go out into battle. No, I had to be the nurse. A nurse with no patients because as soon as they got shot, they miraculously were healed! They never had to stay in the hospital for longer than 10 seconds. Ya, that was an exciting game to play. My introvert tendencies could be because even though I was around people all the time I was alone in so many ways.
Then again there was always noise at my house. People running up and down the halls. It only got worse when my two sisters came along. I always wanted a little sister and I always wanted a bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. I ended up getting both and it wasn't all I thought it would be. When we moved to Grenola, the bathroom was in-between my room and my baby sister's room. Toddlers and bathrooms just don't mix. I had to make sure the door was locked and keep all my stuff up. I mean we are talking about the little girl who was found eating brownies out of the trash can when left alone for a few minutes. Again, I love my siblings and always miss them when I am away but, the way the barge into your room at random times, the way they would run up and down the hall in the morning, the way my little brother would have to read out loud when I was trying to do math, the way my sister decides she can't wait to ask me if I want the book back I let her borrow...couldn't you wait an hour?! I'm sleeping!! It's 6:30 in the morning! They are everywhere, all the time! It seems you can never escape siblings. Even when they aren't there, they are. They leave their mark EVERYWHERE. Even to this day, for about a month after I come home from a trip I am finding my siblings socks, clothes, pens, pencils, books, etc.... all over my room. (In every nook and cranny!) Maybe I have introvert tendencies because after those type of experiences. Sometimes I just want to go hide in a closet and not come out for days....actually I've kind of done that.
People sometimes don't believe me that I have introvert tendencies. Believe me it's true! Ask my brother Hunter...or any of them really. They will tell you there are times I hide myself in my room and never come out. It was always Hunter, Erika and Mark that got me go hang out with people. I was drug into so many schemes by them in high school...which is a whole other story. (flashing lights, trying to fasten seat belts, and someone stuffing fries in my mouth....Erika you know what I'm talking about.)
Give me a good book and I'm gone. Give me enough time to go to Grenola KS and I'l drop off the face of the earth. When I can't go to Grenola I find other ways to disappear. Ask those who have worked with me. When a weekend came that I wasn't working, and they didn't have biscuits and gravy as a meal, I was nowhere to be seen. My cell phone? Sorry, I have no idea where it is or how it works. (people are constantly getting onto me for not answering my phone) I like to slip into a world with no electronics, no people, and no time. Sigh...the PERFECT vacation.
I am an Introvert...Extrovert
Like everything, there is a flip side. Yes, a huge family can cause you to be a hermit at times but having a big family also makes the quiet seem...wrong. I mean when your use to noise its can be creepy when there is none at all. I can easily drown out crying, yelling, whining. (a great skill to have as a camp counselor.) In fact, I once told my cousins that there was something in my ear that wouldn't allow me to hear whining. A little later one of them was whining at me, I was somewhat ignoring him, his brother turned to him and said, "She can't hear whining, remember? There is that thing in her ear!" HAHAHA But when you are use to blocking it out, you're use to noise, not no noise. The first time I lived on my own I couldn't stand there being no noise. I had to sleep with the TV or radio on. On the days I had off I still found myself in the office, cause I had to be around people, not a lot of people but people. So, I guess having a big family didn't make me an introvert completely. I was usually the one talking people's ear off until my brother Garrett came along and then Anna and well, I can't get a word in edge wise anymore. But, every once in a while I just need to sit down with a good friend and talk their ear off for an hour or so and then I'm good for the next month. Yes, I am an extrovert at times. The biggest reason I am an extrovert is due to my father's influence. My dad isn't really a people person but he is always around people. He has a big family, highly involved in the church, a furniture sales man... there is a phrase my pastor once used and my dad has often used since. "Ministry is People." 
It's true. The ministry isn't a program, or a place but the people we encounter. It's all about people and their relationship or lack of relationship with Jesus Christ. I have made a good case for my "introvertedness" but the truth is I am also often an extrovert. How can anyone who has been impacted by Jesus Christ like have be 100% introvert ALL the time?! Believe it or not you are reading the blog of the girl who would go up to strangers and tell them they were sinners and needed Jesus...when she was like 4. The little girl who would peer over the neighbors fence as he watered his flowers and invite him to church. I loved those days. I would stick my tiny hand through the chain-link fence and pet ol' wrigley, his dog, and talk to Mr. Igo about my Jesus. My young heart was so burdened for him. I wish my child-like faith was always that strong. Years later, when my mom called to tell me Mr. Igo had passed away, I slipped into a very thoughtful state. I will never know if he came to know Jesus. I will never know if I will see him glory. What a haunting feeling. More than any other reason, this is why I have to be an extrovert. All the people I pass by on a daily basis that do not know or are not living for Jesus Christ. Does it not burn your heart?
So, who really knows if I am an extrovert or an introvert. I like to talk with people. I like to know what God is doing in their life. I like to teach his word to others. I love hanging out and laughing with my awesome siblings. Then, I like hoping in the car and heading out into the middle of nowhere, locking myself into the house with a good book, or a notebook and pen, a pot of coffee, and slip into a world all my own. I am an Extroverted Introvert.
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