Many years ago, my mom gave me some important words of wisdom that have stuck with me througout my life. We had just moved to Colorado and I was about to start 5th grade. At a new school. Where I didn’t know anyone. I was also shy and an introvert…you know, the perfect combo for being the new kid with all new surroundings. And I was worried about not making any friends.

My mom told me, “If you want friends, you have to be a friend.”

And she was right. I was forced out of my comfort zone and I endeavored to be a friend to others. Turns out I’d need those words many times in the future. You’d think it would get easier to make friends the more you are stretched and experience change in your life, but sometimes it doesn’t.

After living in Fort Worth for the past 20 years, we decided to uproot from our comfortable community of jobs, church, family and friends and relocate to Waco. And while Fort Worth isn’t all that far away, it was still a huge change. So once again I found myself asking, “how will I make friends in this new town?” 

Since this is my life right now, I want to share how this shy introvert has endeavored to make friends.

Within our first week of moving to Waco, I decided to attend a Mom’s Night Out event hosted by the Waco Moms Blog. I didn’t know anyone and attended by myself. Was this hard? Yes. But I knew the best way to meet people was to actually get out!

The first person I met turned out to be someone I immediately connected with, and within a couple of weeks she had introduced me to other people, encouraged me to apply to be a contributor for the Waco Moms Blog and invited me to a Bible study.

I realize it may not be quite that easy to meet people when moving to a new place. It may take being brave, mustering up some confidence and doing something new and possibly by yourself. Look for events or opportunities in your area to meet other moms. 

Had I not attended that mom’s night out, I never would have met my friend and other moms through the Bible study.

If you do attend a church, check out getting involved with a Bible study or MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group. For the Bible study I attend, you aren’t required to attend the church where we meet. In fact, most of the women attend different churches in the area.

We were looking for a church, but hadn’t really found a place to land. One of my friends from Bible study invited me to her church, because she and her husband were launching a new small group. After our first visit, and approval from our 6 year old, we knew we’d found the church for us. And attending a small group within this large church has made a huge difference when it comes to meeting and connecting with other people.

I also homeschool my son and we’re part of a co-op. This has been another avenue to meet other moms and even have some playdates. Even if you don’t homeschool, maybe consider joining the PTA or volunteering in your child’s classroom.

For those of us new to Waco, I feel like we have a great opportunity to meet and connect with others, because Waco is experiencing such a tremendous amount of growth and LOTS of people are relocating here. I have several new friends that literally all moved here last summer, around the same time we did. 

I’m hopeful that if you are looking for mom friends in Waco, you can find them. It may take doing something hard, totally out of your comfort zone and taking the first step by being a friend to someone else.