Moving Beyond the Comfort Zone

            Wanda’s parents gave us a leather recliner last week.  It’s used, but it still looks pretty nice, and it’s very comfortable.  We both very much enjoy it.

           

What I didn’t realize is that apparently, when you get a new recliner, you also need a new end table to go with it.  So, we bought an end table.  Or, more accurately, we bought a box that had all the parts of an end table in it.  The parts needed to be put together.  As I am the Man of the House, that job fell to me.

           

Now, Wanda and I have been married twenty-two years, so she knows me pretty well.  One of the things she knows is that the sum of my mechanical ability is pretty much zero.  So naturally enough, before we bought it, Wanda asked “Are you sure you can put this together?”  A very reasonable question.  Again, though, I’m the Man of the House, so naturally enough, I answered, “Of course I can.  Don’t worry about it.”

           

Saturday afternoon, when Wanda was out of the house, I opened the box to put the new end table together.  Wanda being out of the house was important, because the one thing I learned from my dad about doing anything mechanical is that, if things go wrong, there are certain magic words you have to say to make them go right, and I thought it would be better if Wanda didn’t hear me say those words.  I took the pieces out of the box, along with the instructions, got a couple of tools, and went to work.  I won’t say it all went perfectly, but the mistakes I made were correctable ones, and within a relatively short time, where there had previously been a bunch of miscellaneous pieces of wood and screws, there now stood a fully functioning end table.

           

Don’t get me wrong.  I fully understand that this was not a major project.  For a lot of people, this would have been the simplest thing in the world.  For me, though, it was a big deal.  I succeeded at doing something that I did not know if I could do.  It was something I thought might be beyond my skill, and was certainly beyond my comfort zone.  I knew there were a lot of other people who’d be better at doing this than I was.  Still, I tried it, and I did it.  In fact I feel pretty good about the fact that I did it.  It gives me confidence that there might be more things like that I can do.

           

As Christians, there are things God asks us to do.  Sometimes they’re very hard things, but sometimes they’re rather simple things.  At least, they seem like simple things to others.  For us, though, they’re a big deal.  We don’t know if we can do them.  We think they might be beyond our skill.  They’re certainly beyond our comfort zone.  We think there are a lot of people who are better at doing them than we are.  Still, God asks us to try them.  We may not always succeed, but sometimes we will.  When we do, we’ll feel pretty good about the fact that we did.  It’ll give us confidence that there are even more things we can do to serve God.

           

            As we approach Thanksgiving, think about what God may be asking you to do.  Then, try to do it.  You may not always succeed.  Sometimes, though, you will.  When you do, you’ll feel good about it.  Then, you’ll have the confidence to do still more.  If enough of us do that, we’ll have a parish full of people who are taking chances, getting beyond their comfort zones, and serving God.  Which, when you think about it, is what the people of God are supposed to do