The confines of the comfort zone...

I don't know about you, but I'm a comfortable kind of person. I like my favorite comfy gray sweatshirt, I like my favorite pink comfy lounge pants, I like my comfy bed and my comfy chair and my favorite comfort foods. I like to be comfortable in temperature - not too hot or too cold. I like to be comfortable in my surroundings - feel safe.

I'm a comfy kind of girl.

I think we all are, though the specifics might vary. We're Americans, and we're spoiled - let's be honest. (I might never recover from the sight of the public restroom in Cozemel during a cruise vacation last year.) We have it GOOD here, people. And we're used to that and expect it and feel entitled to it.

That's probably a post for another day.

There's a different kind of comfy, though. A comfy that we linger in when we're afraid of stepping outside of our boxes. We all have our own specifically defined comfort zone, and we HATE crossing over those lines.

But what do we miss when we refuse?

What blessings do we say "no thanks" to when God calls us to do something a little daring, a little scary, a little unnerving? When He prompts us to go talk to the new guy or new girl but we refuse because we're feeling shy too? When He prompts us to tell someone about Him, about Grace, about the Gospel - but we shake our heads, deeming ourselves not worthy or not prepared or not able to use the right words. When He prompts us to start that ministry, and we say "not me, God" because we don't know the logistics of how to start or have the money to put behind it? When He gives us an opportunity to teach or speak for Him but we pass because we're afraid of microphones and video cameras?

We're missing SO MUCH.

I had a chance to step outside my comfort zone a few nights ago. I can't share the details but it involved a phone call with total strangers, and being very vulnerable. Very real. And guess what?

I was BLESSED.

I can't believe that I hesistated at first and almost skipped the phone call altogether. What a shame that would have been. Instead, I stepped outside the lines and directly into God's will and what He had for me that night.

What better feeling exists?

Don't get too comfy, friend. There's so much life outside the lines.