Out of my comfort zone

Tonight is Monday. Superman goes to a Men's Meeting (Bible/Book study with other Christian men, mostly from our church) on Monday nights. Usually, the girls and I will hang out with my mom and sisters but they are at Falls Creek (mom is cooking again) so it was just me and mine :-) I really enjoy spending time with them doing things like this:

But today was a crazy long day at work and I just didn't feel like going home. There is too much work here to do and I knew I wouldn't relax and spend time with them. So, we headed to a favorite hang out for dinner and play time . . . Chick-Fil-A!!! One reason I like going there is because it is a Christian based business and I will support those as often as I can ~ even though it is frustrating that (even though it's one of the things I like about them!) they are closed on Sundays ;-) The other big factor in my liking to go there is that the girls will choose the fruit cups over the french fries! They don't even ask for fries (I think they believe fruit is the norm at Chick-Fil-A!) and I like that they are making a healthy choice.

So, after we ate dinner, they did a little of this . . .

THEN . . . a little of this!

Then, Hannah decided she wanted to be a photographer too.

What I didn't get pictures of was the incredibly nice family we befriended in the play area. It was a mom, a dad, an 18 month old girl and a 6 year old boy. The kids all played together really well (it was only the 4 of them in the play area) and their parents and I were able to strike up a conversation about nothing other than . . . our families :-)

I didn't find out a whole lot about them other than the 6 year old will be attending the same school as Dallas and Makenna and will be in 1st grade so there is a chance he and Makenna will be in the same class. What a small world! The entire time we were talking, God was prompting me to invite them to church. But I kept fighting it. I would make a comment here and there about things like "my husband's at a Bible study right now so we thought we'd come play" and "our Hispanic pastor's daughter is so smart" but never flat out said anything about Christianity or church.

As they left the play area to eat their dinner and the girls and I went to get our ice cream, I could NOT get God's voice out of my head. What made the whole thing worse is that just yesterday, dad's sermon was about being "sent" (which is also the theme at Falls Creek youth camp this week. So, I said to myself "Tabitha, God is giving you an awesome opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and STEP UP!" As I looked into my purse to grab my keys, here is how God worked:

First, I realized that I had a blank offering envelope in my purse with our church name, address and other information on it.

Second, the mom took the little girl to wash her hands (she had to pass by our table).

Then I finally stepped out - out of my comfort zone. I wrote my name and the names of my brother and sister who may get to meet her son on the back of the envelope. She had told me where they live and I had mentioned it was close to my parent's house. As she walked back by, I stopped her and said something about how it was so nice to have met them and gave her the envelope first showing her the side with the names and then said "and I don't know if you all attend church anywhere, but if you don't, there is information about the church we attend on the other side. We would love to have you visit sometime!" And her answer . . . "yeah! I know where that is! We may just come see you sometime. Thanks for the invitation."

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, let me start by saying that it is not to boast. Remember, I told you it took a lot of things for me to build up this courage so if anything, I should be embarrassed that this does not come naturally - so definitely not boasting!

I share for this reason alone. I want to encourage myself and you. Striking up a conversation is so natural for most people. Silence is more awkward. But striking up a conversation about our faith? Why is it so hard? Who knows if I will ever see this family again? But I can rest tonight knowing that I followed God's prompting. And I know that if a similar situation arises again, I AM able to carry on the simplest of conversations. God leading, this will happen again. I pray that next time, I will be more willing and more ready!