What “living on mission” actually looks like when you’re an introvert who’d rather stay home

Let me be honest about something: I am not the person who should be writing a blog post about neighboring well.

I am profoundly introverted. When presented with free time, I tend to choose a cup of coffee and a good book over a social gathering. I’m a homebody. I like my house. It’s not that I don’t love people and music, it’s just that I like quiet. And for years — years — I lived on my street, waved at my neighbors from the driveway, and mostly called it good.
Then God started nudging me.

What Does “Living on Mission” Actually Mean? (And Why Most of Us Aren’t Doing It)

We talk a lot in Christian circles about “living on mission.” We preach it, read books about it, discuss it, and nod enthusiastically in small groups. But most of us, if we’re being honest, have never even learned the names of the people who live within 200 feet of our front door.

Last summer as I considered what “living in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25) might practically look like, the question that stopped me was: What does it actually look like to live my faith outside the walls of my own home?

Not in a big, dramatic, overseas-mission-trip way. Just… with my neighbors. The retirees who travel. The family whose kids are different ages than mine. The houses where our lives have simply never overlapped. The ones who I’ve met a couple of times…but can’t remember their names. The ones who moved in a year ago and I kept meaning to bring cookies to and just didn’t.

How I Started Neighboring: One Awkward Driveway Party at a Time

Here’s what I did, and I want you to know it was awkward from the very beginning.

We bought a movable firepit. Amazon Prime delivered café lights and the poles to hang them on, and I loaded up on s’more supplies. I designed an invitation that said, “Come join us for summer evenings on our driveway” and I listed three dates, one each in June, July, and August.

Then I made my 10-year-old walk the street with me, house by house, to ring doorbells and to hand them out. Using your child as emotional support on a scary mission trip to your own neighbors is completely valid.

And as you imagine, it was awkward, and the conversations were stilted. I felt like I was trying to sell something nobody asked for. People looked at me strangely and I kept saying over and over, “No really, this is just a casual time for us all to hang out and get to know each other!”

On the night of the first event, as I was setting everything up on our very exposed, very visible driveway at the top of the street, I genuinely could not decide which outcome was worse: nobody shows up, or everybody shows up.

What Happened When I Finally Met My Neighbors

People came.

Not everyone, and that was okay. But over three summer evenings, neighbors who had lived near each other for years actually talked to each other. We had nametags (yes, nametags!). And people brought lawn chairs and camped out on my driveway.

I had a sweaty conversation when someone asked what I did for work and I said at a church and I watched the air get sucked out of the moment… and then I got to show them that I, a church-working Christian, can laugh. That I wouldn’t flinch at an occasional cuss word. That faith doesn’t have to mean weird or unapproachable.

I had a few unexpected conversations about how our family navigates technology and about choices we make because of what we believe. I was nervous and I stumbled through them. But I had them!

I also had lovely conversations. We shared memories of our neighborhood, and we played a lot of cornhole, and I toasted a lot of marshmallows.

And now I know my neighbors’ names and we even waved at each other genuinely over the fall and winter.

The Kind of Bravery Living on Mission Actually Requires

Living on mission, or in step with the Spirit, requires bravery.

Not the grand, heroic kind, but the small, embarrassing, what-if-nobody-comes kind. The kind where you set up a driveway party and stand there wondering if you’ve made a terrible mistake.

To live in step with the life God is calling us into we must be willing to do hard things. Maybe even awkward things. The kind of things that don’t come naturally.

Isaiah 41:10 doesn’t say, “I will strengthen you once you’ve got it all figured out.” It says: I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you. Right now. In the mess. Before you have any idea what you’re doing.

How to Start Living on Mission Right Where You Are

You don’t have to host regular neighborhood get-togethers on your driveway. That was my version of being brave. Your version might be a wave that turns into a conversation, a meal left on a doorstep, an invitation to coffee with the person across the street whose name you’ve never learned. It may be having a real conversation about your faith with your own children.

The people living closest to you are your mission field, and we often neglect to show up for them.

What would it look like for you to take one brave step to live on mission this summer? It does not need to be a perfectly planned, polished, strategic, ministry-approved step. Just a real one.

Set up the firepit. Make the s’mores. Learn their names.

You might be surprised what God does with a little awkward.

If you’re feeling that nudge to step outside your comfort zone and live on mission right where you are, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Our Mission Hills Women’s Ministry is a community of women who are learning what it looks like to live out their faith in the everyday, ordinary, awkward moments of real life.

Join a Bible Study or a Community Group to find people who will encourage you, pray for you, and maybe even show up to your driveway party. Or sign up for our Women’s Ministry newsletter to stay connected and keep taking brave, one-step-at-a-time steps toward the neighbors and mission God has placed right outside your door.

✏️  AUTHOR CREDITS

This blog was written by the Mission Hills Church Women’s Ministry.