Backpack? Check. New school clothes and shoes? Check. It was all exciting and fun to get ready for the first day of Kindergarten. But to actually get on the school bus for the first time and head out into the unknown…well, that’s an entirely different story.

It was Fall 2015 and Grandson Oliver handled the first week of school very well. Even though he didn’t know anyone since he was new to the neighborhood, he made a quick friend with a fellow kindergartener who got on at the same bus stop.

After a few days Oliver shared with me that “it’s still a little scary, Gramma, cause it’s all new to me and I miss my old friends”. I reminded him that he didn’t know anyone at his 4 year old school in the beginning, but it hadn’t taken him long to grow close to several “best friends for life” as he calls them.

He bounded off the school bus on Friday with a big smile. What had seemed new and scary only a week before was now less so. Of course, it helped that the bus driver gave an end-of-the-week reward for good bus behavior, and this time it was a yummy chocolate chip cookie!

As we skipped across the street and back into his yellow-doored comfort zone, Oliver looked up at me and said, “School’s alright, but it’s nice to be home.”

At that moment, it seems that God whispered encouragement to my heart:

“When I nudge you out of your comfort zone, My child, just know it’s not to leave you in an emotionally scary-to-you place. It’s to expand your experience of life. To build your confidence in knowing I am always with you as you head out into the unknown and I’ll always be here after you’ve encountered the unknown…for you to come home to!

So, as you step into each next opportunity I call you to, think of it as an adventure. Give it a try. Give it some time and see what develops. You may make some new “best friends for life” of your own…and isn’t that just what you’ve always been desiring?”

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What memories are coming to mind about when God has nudged you outside your comfort zone? Let’s start jotting down those God-connected Moments to add to your family’s mini-stories collection! Here’s to using them to encourage children and grandchildren in your empty nesting families…as they begin to step out and take flight!💕

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JOYfully jotting,

Katie

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