conversation stopper

We got back from London on a Wednesday.
Thursday morning I dropped Malachai and Josu off at school, and raced to the pasteleria. I wanted to make sure to catch Sonia and Ana for a coffee

I wanted to see them because I knew they would ask me about our trip to London, and I was excited to tell them about our traveling adventures, and about my little sister Abi's sweet, cozy hospitality in her teeny-tiny home (see Selma licking up uncle Nathaniel's world famous hot coco from the hallway floor - - below).

I was excited (and a little bit nervous, but mostly just excited) to tell them about the four hour meeting that Joshua and I had had with Mike and Richard - - good men who are serving and leading the church in England, and who are looking for help to do this.
I was excited to tell Ana and Sonia about the church that these guys had described for us - - an established, commuter church on the edge of an estate (that's fancy, British talk for a housing project) that has slowly, over the years begun to see the neighborhood change - - fill with immigrants from Asia, India and Pakistan. The church is interested in reaching out to and loving their neighborhood;
but they don't really know how,
and they are kind of afraid,
and they need someone to equip them for ministry, and to give them a vision for action.

And I wanted to tell Ana and Sonia how very much this excites me and Joshua - - we love the church! We believe that the great purpose of the church in this world is to love the world around it; we love joining with the church to do this!
but.
That conversation hardly happened; my sweet friends seemed barely interested, and the topic of conversation was quickly changed.

This didn't necessarily surprise me, I guess, but I've been thinking a lot about it, and there are two things that I keep going back to:

1. My greatest passions are not their greatest passions. I talk about these things because God has changed my heart; it's as simple as that.

2. While my Spanish friends have years of experience conversing about where to find the best butcher in town (and countless other helpful, interesting topics),
they
don't
EVER
talk about God, or the church, or anyone's passion for the church loving the world. And I think that partly, they have a hard time talking about these things with me because they're just not used to it.
they don't know what to say,
they don't know what to ask,
so they don't.

I've come to realize that
I need to get used to talking true to my identity with my friends
and they need to get used to hearing about my true identity

how about you?