Reach up and over and, for the love, out of your Comfort Zones

So I had a fairly open day yesterday and woke up thinking about the #fmfparty over on Twitter! I had the best of intentions in making the party last night and somehow completely lost track of time! I miss ya'll and can't wait to get back into some sort of rhythm and routine because, well - Fall is approaching (#Swoon!) and that usually brings a balance back to my days! Usually...

Anyway - here we go:Five Minute Friday - Our Word Prompt is: REACH

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"Reach!  Reach Up and Over and Break on Out of your Comfort Zones!"

God has been speaking this to me a lot lately...

"Reach!"  I hear Him whisper it softly, over and over... almost as if it's an anthem, with a rhythm of its' own.  I hear it again and again, like the beating of a drum and the thrum of it all holds a promise of Freedom.


Freedom from walls that bind... from fences that don't open... from mindsets that are needing to be broken off and redeemed.

And oh how I pray that it continues to get louder and louder, as I get bolder and braver!

About a month ago, I had been praying about my lack of follow through when it came to working out.  I have talked about this struggle here and there but it boils down to this: Several years ago, I changed my life and lost a bit of weight.  Then, about a year into it, I hit that proverbial wall plateau and spent another 2-3 years trying All. The. Things. (except surgery) to get back to losing, with zero success.  Enter last year and I began to lose my resolve. 

Anyway - all of that to say this: I felt said resolve being stirred up again... I felt hope arising and was reminded that losing weight is a side benefit to being healthy and that - well, that is always worth the effort! So I was contemplating joining a gym.  We are on a tight budget and I knew I would really love it about mid-Fall or early-Winter, more so than probably right now. I had intentions of, you guessed it, not following through. Not until later (says the classic procrastinator!)

However, this happened:

I had also been praying about the whole #GoingThere conversation and realizing that as I looked around my circles in real life, I live a fairly segregated life in the flesh.  I began to realize that this needed to change.  So, instead of joining one of the two or three gyms that are literally blocks away from us, I signed up for this new gym across town.

My Honey and my Girlie joined too! So - now we have family date nights at the Gym. And I am finding a routine that will place me there at various times during the week, looking to get out of my comfort zone and make new friends.* It's not always easy... I am shy (at first! What? It's true!) and people either come in pairs or they are plugged in with headphones.  But I am going with the intention of reaching up and out and over... I am determined to not go back to normal - but to break in to new. 

Ignorance is Bliss is no longer an option and I don't want us to talk about #GoingThere online, and not literally doing it - one small step, or workout, or (insert whatever you can do where you are at here) at a time!

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What about you, friend?  What are some ways that you are bursting out of your Comfort Zones and learning to take risks! How are you Reaching up and over and out? I'd love to hear!

* This was the Five Minute Mark!

If you want to read more on #GoingThere, and what it looked like to literally Go There to Ferguson, hop on over HERE and read the words and hearts and hope gathered over at The High Calling.

Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click here to read what others have to say about "REACH"


Oh ...the fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays have been hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  This week we start gathering over at Kate Motaung's.  FMF is open to anyone, so to learn more about it - and to jump in yourself (the more the merrier!) or just to find a linky to see what everyone is writing about today - click HERE!  The idea is to simply write... for Five Minutes flat... no editing, no deep thinking - or at least REthinking, no spell check - just write! Let it flow! We all write using a prompt that Lisa posts at 10pm Thursday night (EST.)  I'm loving the community of amazing bloggers and the creativity that flows from these magical Five Minutes!