Head First

Yea! My first ever blog post! I have wanted to blog for a long time; so, today -- SPLASH -- I just decided to jump in head first. "Head first" is normally how I function best. This blog will be a place for Rob & I to share ideas & communicate with you; although, I'm quite sure you will rarely hear from Rob as blogging is not really his thing.

Seems to me here lately that the topic of "comfort zones" is taking a forefront in conversations that I'm having with others. So, for this first post, I'm going to talk a little about comfort zones.

What's your comfort zone? Are you afraid to leave it? If so, why? Have you thought BEYOND the scary part? I mean, once you step out there, what will it really look, feel, smell, taste, sound like? Would it be a growing zone, a disaster zone, a happy zone -- more so than the zone you are in now? HAVE YOU EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR ZONE? Well, you should! Where ever you are, you are in a zone & it's all yours. You've helped create it, and you are nestled down all snug and warm, but did you realize that in your moments of displeasure or despair that God is calling you out of hiding? Yep, He sure is. All the disgust you feel (in whatever form that may be) is an urging to explore ahead. There are great blessings waiting for you beyond your zone. I can state this idea so broadly because it really applies to everyone. All of us have blessings waiting for us on the other side of that scary thin line.

My most recent step across the scary thin line was when God called me to go to nursing school in 2008. It was nerve-racking, nausea-creating, marriage-trying, kid-neglecting, fear-facing horror! Most of you don't know that I used to get sick and faint at the sight of blood...even just a drop...I'm not kidding. You can imagine how many times I saw THE BLUE DOTS in nursing school (you know, the ones you see before you pass out) -- quite a few, but I called on God, breathed deeply, and trudged ahead. Today, I have NO PROBLEMS at all & I am a working RN. A true miracle, I kid you not. Before I was completely debilitated by my fear, and now I AM HEALED!!

So, how do you cross that scary thin line? I believe there are a couple of different ways to approach. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there is the "head first" method, which is self-explanatory, and works well for me. Then, there is the "plan" method, which can work better for those big life changes. One could apply the Nursing Process here:

Assess your life and where you want to go from today onward -- or, even better, where does God want you to go...what is His plan for you?

Diagnose what's holding you back, what must be changed or left behind, what or who will help you cross that scary thin line.

Pray (in nursing this step is called Plan, but in life it really should be Pray).

Implement changes, omissions, inclusions (of people or events) as identified above.

Evaluate your new outcome related to your original Assessment goal.

Your evaluation will be very positive if you've indeed stepped across that scary thin line and prayed all the while, trusting & allowing God to take the lead.

Sounds easy, but it's hard. As the old folks say, though, "Nothing in life that's worth having comes easy."

I, your friend in Christ, Deanna, invite you to step out of your comfort zone!! Head first or make a plan -- the choice is yours -- do it!! Feel free to share stories about when you were called from your zone (did you jump, or plan, or do nothing at all) & how did it turn out?