Pushing Out of My Comfort Zone

I admit it. I'm a coward. Especially when it comes to using what poor Japanese I have.

But, I have to stop a moment and celebrate a success today. I'm too embarrassed to even tell you in this public place exactly what I managed to do, but I'm celebrating. I hate using the telephone in

My kitchen is very much part of my comfort zone. The
telephone on the left of the photo, is not!

English, but today I made a phone call in Japanese. It was a small thing, but something that needed to be done and done by me. I did it without confusion and without making any vast errors. Then I did a victory pump in the air after I finished!

In the early years of being a missionary you feel as though you're miles from any comfort zone you might have once had. As time moves on, though, and you regain a new comfort zone. Things you can do with ease, places you like to go, people you like to be with. 

But your comfort zone remains far smaller than it is in your home country. It doesn't take much to bump you out of it. A broken pipe, a delayed train, a medical emergency. These things, small and large, we take take in our stride in our home countries, in our native language. These things become much harder in another country.

The challenge is to not let yourself remain in that narrow place where you feel comfortable. You can't help the unexpected things, but to regularly push yourself out of the zone is one of the hardest things to do.

So, today I'm celebrating and hoping that this tiny success will motivate me to keep pushing out.