Big City Living- Is it an advantage?

I think back to my time teaching and coaching in rural Lebanon, Oregon (15,930). Many of the students that I coached and some people that I was acquainted with had aspirations to live in a "Big City." For some that meant areas like Portland (632,309) or Seattle (684,451).  While others there goals are Los Angeles (4,030,904), Chicago (2,720,546)  or New York City (8,550,405). They want to move to these places because small towns don't have things to do. They don't have malls, movie theaters, sports venues, or many restaurants.  

Living in a Jakarta (9,607,787) has taught me the importance of those things. They mean diddly squat if you don't have the people to actually do them with. Jakarta alone has  about 173 malls, not all high quality but still malls. As many of you know I am a very social person. I enjoy meeting people and getting to know people. Many conversations that I have had with people have pointed to the fact that although these cities continue to fill with people, the meaningful interactions tends to decrease. The biggest contributor is that with populous cities comes traffic. The new people that I have met within the last few weeks feel alone in this big city, mainly because getting anywhere in the traffic takes forever. Something that is 10 miles away, quite possibly could take 2 hours to reach. This deters so many people from going and hanging out. For awhile I could not figure out why so many of our students would just stay and hang out in our lobby or the Starbucks next door. I now realize it is because once they head home, interactions with their friends is limited not for lack of transportation, but because of the time it would require in the car. 

I bring this up not because I am lonely, on the contrary, it is to point out the blessing that God has given me. I live in the school I teach at, and while it has its disadvantages it also has its advantages. I live amongst people who are my colleagues, friends, and family in Christ. We may not always see eye to eye on everything and we may tire of each other occasionally, but we have a built in social group. And while these people will occasionally drive us crazy, it is important to remember that God uses this community to grow us and keep us sane. The other great thing is that wherever I move, if there is Gospel preaching church, then I have community there. We may have different cultural backgrounds, but we are united as one with Christ. 

So, if you plan to move to the "Big City" and want meaningful relationships, get plugged into a local church and be involved.

*All these stats are taken from each cities Wikipedia page. So take it with a grain of salt. I do not condone this as a source of research. :) 

Basketball-Teachers and Staff

Teacher and Staff Appreciation day

Small Group