One Is Just A Number

I did something that terrified me on Sunday - I spoke in front of my church. It wasn't a huge number of people, approximately 100, but that is more than I've talked to at once. Ever. I gave a testimony of sorts about how I feel about my church. Several weeks ago, I wrote this post from Lisa-Jo's prompt worship . Once I was done with it, I sent it to my pastor to let him know what the church meant to me. He asked me if I'd be willing to speak these words at the beginning of the service, as part of events gearing up to Pledge Sunday. This was huge for me for several reasons. Like I said, it was something that terrified me, which I am not prone to do. I shrink away from things that scare me but this time, I answered in the affirmative and hit reply to my pastor's email before I could chicken out. Second, it got me out of the shadows and moving towards being a more active member of my church. In the eight months I've been a member there, I've most...

Tonight I went to Halloween party where I only knew one person, the host, and everyone in attendance was about 20 years younger than me. My costume wasn't the best and I felt a little out of place but I stayed for the whole party and I had a good time. I'm still getting used to stepping out on my own but every time I take a chance and do something out of my comfort zone, I feel braver and more confident.

A couple of years ago, I had to go to Kalamazoo, Michigan on a business trip. I was less than thrilled about the destination but then I discovered that to get there I was going to need to fly through Chicago and an idea was born. I contacted some people who lived there and they offered me a place to stay so on the way back home to Oklahoma, I spent a long weekend in the Windy City. I was so nervous. Even though I was going to be with people all weekend, it felt like it was the first vacation that I'd taken on my own. As I sat on the banks of Lake Michigan after arriving safely at my friends' home and having a great lunch on my own, I felt so proud of myself. And the feeling continued the next day when I got off at the correct L stop, turned the right direction, and found my way to the Art Institute of Chicago. Basking in my new navigational skills, I found my way to Wrigley Field, walked around it, and got back on the correct train to get back to my friends' c...