I could hear the planes overhead, I lay there wondering, what in the world had I done?! I had completely stepped out of my comfort zone and here I was in a place I never thought I would be, a place I thought just weeks earlier I could do, yet I had a deep seed of doubt now as I was here, in the darkness feeling all alone and abandon from all I knew, family and friends miles away and here I was with this sinking feeling of regret! I closed my eyes for what seemed only a moment and shot my eyes wide open so fast to the clanking of something so loud hitting the bed and the voice of a boistrous voice yelling, "GET UP YOU LOW LIFE PRIVATES!! YOU HAVE EXACTLY 5 MINUTES TO GET DRESSED, BRUSH YOUR TEETH, GO TO THE LATRINE, DO YOUR BUSINESS AND GET OUT IN FORMATION! NOW GO! GO! GO!" I don't think I moved so fast in my life, my heart was racing and my mind was locked in gear to GO!

That is a memory of my first day at basic training back in March of 1988. I did feel a bit of regret a few times during basic training, but it turned out to be the best experience of my life and one of my biggest growing moments in my life too. I would never have met my husband had I not joined the Army had I not stepped out of my comfort zone.  I would never have gotten to go over seas to Germany, had I not stepped out of my comfort zone. I met the neatest people over there, and we got our first german shepherd dog over there! There were so many things that I did not regret and that is what happens when you step out of your comfort zone. If you stay in one place too long, you get complacent. You don't necessarily have to move to another place to step out of your comfort zone but there are times in your life you may have to.  It can be the scariest and most craziest thing you do at that moment, but if you can see past that fear, that uncertainty you will come out so much stronger. I have trusted God time and again in my life and he doesn't want me to be complacent. As I grow older I feel I become wiser and I am thankful for all the moments God has granted me and will grant me.

My son is about to spread his wings and go to another state and in some ways I feel it is out of his comfort zone but I know he will grow to be stronger and more independent. I am sad and feel a tug on my heart, however, I know how it is to want to go explore new things and to break away, so I support him in going. I am proud of him for working through so much and finding his way. He is going in a time of uncertainty, a time where we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but it's for his job and he agreed to go. He will have God with him the entire time and he will be safe.  My daughter has stepped out of her comfort zone time and again as well, just recently by posting on her blog and being so vulnerable yet knowing that she had to get her message out there, because someone needed to hear it, feel it and know that it's ok. Yes, I am blessed with two wonderful children that God gave me. I do not take them for granted and feel love so deep for both of them.

Today as you sit and read this what is it that you will do next to go out of your comfort zone?