Out of Your Comfort Zone and into a Land of Possibilities

I’ve a dinner date coming up, a couple from church I invited, nobody that I really know, just people who looked interesting, based on their photo, when I flipped through our church directory. Our church has been growing, three services now, over a thousand members, so it’s very difficult to really get to know anybody. Sure, I might recognize a face or two, say a friendly “hello” to somebody walking down the hall, but never really intentionally getting to know anyone. After all, it is such an effort. And besides, it’s the American Way to simply avoid eye contact with passerby or pretend that someone’s not sitting merely inches from you during the church service, until thank you, pastor, thanks a lot for having us step out of our comfort zones to acknowledge the people near us with a handshake and a “Good morning, nice to see you.”

And so I did—stepped out of my comfort zone to contact this woman, who must have thought I was some weirdo for calling her and inviting her to dinner, as if we were old friends. “Sure, we’ll come. Should we bring a salad?” Me: Oh, by the way, I know you don’t have any children, but I’ve got 5 of them. So can you bring lots of salad? And maybe some dessert (the kids love cake). And I’m sure you won’t mind that we won’t be able to talk a bit at the dinner table, what with the children arguing, poking, and generally misbehaving. You won’t mind, right? Well, that’s what I was thinking, even if I didn’t say it.

Realistically, the kids will have to be reprimanded a time or two (or ten) for bad manners. However, I’m sure we’ll get along just fine, maybe find some interesting peculiarities about each other, possibly play a board game, discover commonalities and personal passions. Perhaps I’ll find a new best friend.

Thinking back, maybe she was so friendly for precisely the reason why I made the call: we both have a deep need for friendship, for connection, for fun, especially when we live in a world that is hurried, too busy to stop and truly share ourselves with others.

So possibly she hung up the phone, thinking that although I was a stranger, I wasn’t strange. And while I admit that my invitation might have caught her off guard a bit, maybe it blessed her to know that someone intentionally was reaching out to her, or at least to the bright smile in her directory photo. I guess stepping out of my comfort zone brings a host of possibilities, from building my confidence to building relationships. And isn’t that all a part of personal growth?