Challenge Given by Carol Harrison

When I began writing, I only wrote non-fiction memoir style stories and one book. It became my comfort zone. I had no intention of branching out into other genres. Then one of my grandsons challenged me to try and write fiction – any type. He didn’t give up on checking on me. I decided to accept his challenge and attempt to write a fiction book. I did it.

Now I had two genres to play around with and I thought that would be the end of the story. I would work on the craft, learn what I could, and hopefully continue to improve. Then one of my granddaughters challenged me to attend a poetry writing workshop with her at our local library. I went with her and discovered we wouldn’t just learn about poetry but be expected to write some. I didn’t think I could fulfill this part of the challenge but what do you do but try as a grandchild waits for you to step up and keep trying.

Now maybe my family could be satisfied with the diversity of my writing. I continued to attempt more poetry, write several fiction books, as well as more memoir style stories and devotionals. I thought that should be an acceptable range.

But before my husband passed away he threw out several challenges. One was a memoir style story. Okay. I had written that genre before. But the other one would be new. He challenged me to write a Love Inspired style romance novel.

I enjoy the light reading of this style of books and had read many of them over the years. Now with Brian’s challenge fresh in my mind, I signed out stories from the library and curled up to read for pleasure and for research. I went to the guidelines for writing and submitting these stories and studied them carefully. I joined the Facebook group Write for Harlequin and found feedback from others who were published and those, like me, who might try and one day have a Love Inspired book. The writing guidelines provided the accepted formula they are looking for in each book, the word count, and the types of stories they are seeking.

Could I actually attempt this? Should I accept the challenge thrown out to me? I must admit to wanting to forget the challenge and yet it kept coming up in conversation. I started a story and finished a few chapters before getting stuck. I researched some more and came back to write a little more. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded and I put it away just before my husband passed away. I must admit it sits on my computer, unfinished. I haven’t looked at it in two years. Maybe it’s long enough to see it with fresh eyes. Will it ever get further than sitting on my computer? It depends on what the finished product is like, whether I choose to submit it or not. For now it is a venture into a new genre I had never written in before. Maybe this blog post theme will push me to go back to the waiting story and see where I’m at with it. Challenges can be good for a person. It moves them out of their comfort zone. I know it has me over the years.

Carol Harrison loves to do the reading more than writing in a different genre. Yet the research aspect of the reading is great fun. Her favourite chair at her home in Saskatoon begs for someone to curl up with a good book, a fun story, or something to make a person think. 
 

C is for Contests & Critiques by Carol Harrison

 

C is for Contests and Critiques

From the time I began reluctantly writing my first book, Amee’s Story, I felt like I had forgotten so much about writing and English lessons, I felt stuck. How could I ever get past the first few sentences, let alone the first chapter? I typed in words. I deleted them and began again. Then I connected with other Christian writers. I stepped outside my comfort zone of hiding the writing attempts and asked for critique on chapter one.

Putting your piece of writing in front of someone else and asking for a critique can make you feel vulnerable. What if they think nothing is any good? What if questions flitted through my mind. But what did I have to lose? Being stuck didn’t help. Gulping back my fears, I submitted this writing to the opinion of others. It helped me get unstuck.

Through the years, I have still felt inadequate too many times. There is always more to learn. I’ve also realized that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to see some of the common errors in my own writing that I can pick out in a piece written by someone else. We all see what we know should be in our own writing, whether extra words or missing ones.

I meet with other writers to encourage and be encouraged, to learn and to share knowledge I’ve gained. Yes, critique is still part of my writing journey. Recently, another writer and myself meet about once a month. We send each other about 4,000 words of writing. We spend time reading and critiquing each other’s work and then get together to review why we suggested the changes we did. We also make sure we let each other know the parts of the writing we enjoyed the most. It has been an exercise in learning and growing in the craft.

C is also for contests, another way of moving out of my comfort zone and receiving

feedback to help me improve my abilities. I entered Amee’s Story in the Word Guild contest the year after it was published. I wanted to receive the judge’s comments to see what worked and what could be improved as I moved forward with writing. It took a lot of courage to send the book away. Imagine my surprise to find out my book was a semi finalist in the Memoir category. Even though it did not win, I received excellent feedback from the judge which I referred back to as I wrote other pieces.

Since then I’ve entered other contests. A local writing group I belong to has two contests every year which are blind judged by a published author. At first I entered the prose and poetry because we needed to make sure we had at least five pieces in each one in order for the contest to proceed. Obligation to help coloured my reason for entering, especially poetry. But once again the judge’s comments proved so valuable, I began entering them for the purpose of receiving those helpful comments.

Inscribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship provides us with opportunities to enter our writing into the fall contest each year in a number of categories. Blind judging allows unbiased comments. I haven’t entered every year. At first, I couldn’t make myself move out of that comfort zone and send my writing away to be judged. Then, I wanted to receive feedback from a judge to know how I could improve and what I did well. I entered the Devotional category because I felt most comfortable with that genre. Since then, I’ve branched out to try others. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow.

I enter a contest and wait in eager anticipation for the results. Yes, being in the top three is a goal each time but mostly I can’t wait to read the judge’s comments even on pieces that have made those top places.

Contests and critiques are opportunities to stretch us out of our comfort zones while offering advice on ways to improve my writing. It won’t be long before the Inscribe Fall Contest is open. We’ll discover the categories offered this year. Are we ready to write entries for the contest? After all C is for critiques, contests, and moving out of our comfort zone. 

 Carol Harrison writes from her home in Saskatoon, SK. Fear still grips when she sends submissions for contests but she finds them valuable learning tools for this craft of writing.

C is for Cherrio to Your Comfort Zone by Bob Jones

 

                        Photo by Curtis Thornton on Unsplash

  

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what a ship is built for.” John Augustus Shedd

“It’s when you begin to think about going to your dream that your dream is always outside of your comfort zone. It’s always beyond what you’ve ever done.” Bruce Wilkinson

 

The second chair was comfortable for me. That’s not a comment on the literal comfort of cloth, cushions, or capacity. I filled the second chair as an assistant pastor in three different churches. The role suited me well. The “buck” didn’t stop with me. That was a comfortable context.

The context lasted fourteen years. Then I felt the “tap.”

Have you felt a tap on the shoulder or a nudge to move out of your comfort zone? The move may only lead you down the hall, or to a new set of responsibilities or a change of location but the feelings from being outside your zone are enormous. It’s stimulating, stretching, scary, strange, and anything but stale.

Are you being nudged to change your style? Maybe it’s to up your game from articles to a book. Or move from novels to non-fiction? Or to change your career or finally follow your dream.

 

STEPPING OUT

Stepping out of your comfort zone is scary but it doesn’t take courage. Do it scared. Courage is what you find after you step out. What it takes, especially for those who trust that God can order your steps, is a calling. A calling is what gets you through the inevitable setbacks, difficulties, and challenges that await just outside your comfort zone.

 

A comfort zone is a beautiful place – but nothing ever grows there. The move you’re scared to take is the move you need to make.

In 1994 everything changed when our senior pastor went on permanent disability. Months earlier he cut back to part-time hours because of health reasons. Now, he wasn’t just stepping back he was stepping out. The Board of our church asked if I would step up. Yes, was a response to God’s calling. I felt the tap to leave my comfort zone.

The next twenty-five years were anything but comfortable and everything extraordinary.

EXTRAORDINARY

Extraordinary is what you get when you leave your comfort zone and follow your calling. You may muse, “But who am I to be extraordinary?”

Marianne Williamson answers,

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?"

 

Are you ready for God to bring opportunities your way? Doing so requires you to leave what is comfortable. The journey may be scary, you'll feel out of control, and you will be required to get going without knowing exactly where you're headed. This is how you achieve kingdom purposes.

You'll get to try new things and meet wonderful people, like Spider Mabel. She was 8 years old when she came to a book signing. If you receive nothing else from this post, watch Spider Mabel's video trailer to see a girl who stepped out of her comfort zone and saved a city.

 

Saying “Cherrio” to your comfort zone is the first step to getting comfortable with who you are meant to be.

What happened when you stepped out of your comfort zone? 

Bob Jones writes to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose. You can follow his writing at REVwords.com

Leaving The Second Chair Behind by Bob Jones

The second chair was a comfortable one for me. 

I’m not referring to the comfort of upholstery or cushions or size.  My role as an "assistant to the senior pastor" - 2nd chair - of two different churches suited me very well.

My experience taught me that the second chair doesn’t have to be second class or place. It can be a significant place for a season or a lifetime.

Delegated responsibilities and the accompanying authority allowed me a fair bit of freedom to serve autonomously under a safe covering. My scope of ministry included leading overseas missions trips, a choir tour through the Eastern United States, a call-in radio program on Saturday afternoons out of Champlain, NY, hosting city-wide concerts as well as a youth ministry, Sunday School, young adults and preaching once a month.

Not having “the buck” stop with me was comfortably acceptable.

My second chair roles lasted fourteen years. Then I felt "the nudge.” 

It came only hours after our senior pastor and friend informed me that he would need to go on permanent disability. Months earlier he had cut back to part-time hours because of health reasons. He entrusted me with the role of associate pastor at the time.

Now, he was not just stepping back he was stepping out. And I was stepping into the role of interim pastor. That’s when I felt the nudge. “Would you be the next senior pastor of this church?” The Lord’s query was very clear. I don’t often profess to hear God “speak” but this time the message was very clear. Very. Clear.

The Board of the church initiated a search for a full-time senior pastor. They drafted a list of candidates. My name was not on the list. They knew this role was out of my “comfort zone.” Months passed. Thirty-two leaders were approached. Each declined the opportunity. During the process the remaining members of the pastoral staff resigned and left for other callings.  I was the “last man” standing.

Then the Board asked me if I would consider becoming the senior pastor. “Yes.” The rapidity of the response was quite astounding. I’m inclined to pray, consult, discuss and mull over significant decisions. But I had felt “the nudge.” Yes came clearly. Time to sit up and step away from the comfort zone of the second chair.

Our church is congregationally governed – they “elect” their senior pastors. On Sunday May 14, 1994 the vote was held. I was elected as their 21^st senior pastor.  

The past twenty-three years have been anything but comfortable and everything that is extraordinary.   

We’ve been through an intense relocation process, building a new $18 million facility, our church family has increased six fold and become a multi-cultural, come-as-you-are, risk-taking, compassionate community with a vision to see a personal relationship with Jesus grow in everyone, everyday. Recently we began construction on a new addition featuring increased classroom spaces and a 500-seat multi-purpose venue that will allow for a second onsite congregation.

I'm thankful I got nudged out of my comfort zone - or comfortable chair - and into my destiny.

Robert (Bob) W. Jones is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose.

A Comfort Zone Without a Comforter by Alan Anderson

I love the writing prompt for this month. I want to give it a big verbal kiss! It has made me think deep and to choose my words with caution. The ghost of my “comfort zone” is looking over my shoulder as I write this autobiographical post.

The theme for this month’s blog is, “Out of your comfort zone.” Here are the prompt questions I will cover. “When has God nudged you out of your comfort zone, either in your faith life or your writing life? What fears did you face? What steps did you take (or not take) to leave your comfort zone? And what were the results? (Or perhaps God is nudging you now…)”

Please allow me to set the scene a bit for you. I lived my childhood primarily in a fantasyland of my own making. From my early years I tried to escape real life and what it confronted me with. I was shy, quiet and just wanted people to leave me alone. I took each day as it came. That was life. I didn’t expect anything special to come my way. As long as I could stay within myself it was okay. My life at this early age was my comfort zone. It was a comfort zone without a comforter.

“When has God nudged you out of your comfort zone, either in your faith life or your writing life?” When I became aware of God’s love for me things changed slowly. I had to be sure God was real. That too would come slowly. My early thoughts of God were He was a big Meany! He was a Judge and I didn’t need another judge.

What fears did I face?

At first I didn’t face my fears for the most part because there were too many. I hid from them. They were bigger than me. I began to use humour to help me hide from me. In time, in years of time, humour would help me form a relationship with the world and myself. Humour slowly helped me face my fears by not allowing them to rule me anymore.

“What steps did you take (or not take) to leave your comfort zone?” I always took slow and small steps. I guess somewhere along the way of supposedly growing up, I wanted to have a less fearful relationship with life. My shyness pretty well stayed part of me into my teen years. I still much preferred my own company to that of having other people around. I worked hard at my self-awareness, at finding out about myself. That is still part of my journey today.

“And what were the results?” I began to come out of my comfort zone and saw the needs of others. To this day I resonate with those who hurt. I seem to naturally come alongside those in need of an ear and heart to listen to them. I guess in some way, I am a comforter to some.

 Even today I still have lots to learn about people, other God and myself. I think even with my last breath I will be amazed that God ordained me for good works. He ordained me? Me? I am thankful He knows what He is doing. I have a Comforter who is in the business of looking beyond my “comfort zone” and accepting me for who He made me to be. I’m cool with that now!

Blog: ScarredJoy@wordpress.com

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone by Nina Faye Morey

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

~ Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

For many years, I wrote mainly for my own personal pleasure. I’d had a few poems and other pieces published in the Western Producer’s “Young Co-operator’s Club” as a teenager. But, as I grew older, other things in life took precedence over my dream of becoming a published writer.

Then in 2004, God nudged me out of my comfort zone. I felt a sudden urge to see if I could actually get my writing published in newspapers and magazines. With time swiftly passing, I decided I had to try now if I was ever going to see that dream fulfilled. So I stepped out in faith and submitted my first article to a farm publication.

First Article I Wrote, Submitted to and Published by Grainews

What God wants, God enables. Shortly after, the editor called to talk with me about revising and resubmitting my article. She assured me she was interested and stated the deadline to resubmit it. I did as she requested, and it was accepted! Thus, my first article, “Is Santa Claus Real?” was published in Grainews in December 2004. That was followed by several other articles, short stories, and poems published in Grainews, The Manitoba Co-operator, The Prairie Messenger, The Canadian Messenger, The Prairie Journal, FellowScript, and Write On!

Some of My Stories Published in The Canadian Messenger

Soon the finger of God pointed me in another direction. I submitted a couple of pieces that were accepted by a Christian anthology. When Sheila Webster dropped by to deliver my copies of InScribe’s 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers in the summer of 2015, she offered me the position of columns editor for FellowScript magazine. I’d become comfortable as a writer—but an editor? Could I do that? I had no previous editing experience! I asked why she’d chosen me. She explained she’d been impressed by the grammar and writing skills I’d displayed in articles I’d submitted and published through some FellowScript Writing Contests and assignments I’d submitted for the FellowScript Free Writing Course she’d offered in 2015.

First Devotional and First Anthology

It wasn’t long before the hand of God nudged me out of my comfort zone once more. Sheila asked me to consider taking over as FellowScript’s editor-in-chief, expressing again her faith in my ability. At first, I accepted. Then I got cold feet and declined. She persisted; I vacillated some more. Sheila was determined and patient, reassuring me that I had the skills required. Finally, I succumbed to her persuasive powers when she promised to be available to help me if needed for the first couple of issues. But she was confident I’d be fine on my own. I’m not really sure how she knew, although I believe God had placed that assurance in her heart.

However, fear still gripped my heart. Was I really ready to step into Sheila’s shoes? What if I wasn’t up to the task? I had to remind myself of the lesson I’d previously learned—sometimes you just have to step out in faith and tackle opportunities, despite your fears. I’d already done that several times. So once again I stepped up to the plate, taking on the challenge of becoming FellowScript’s editor-in-chief. 

First Magazine as Editor

God was right! Sheila was right! “You took to it like a duck to water,” she remarked later. So I’ve discovered I’m capable of editing a magazine, and I’m feeling comfortable in that role now. I thoroughly enjoy being FellowScript’s editor-in-chief and trust God will continue to give me the ability and strength needed to carry out this special assignment He’s given me.

I can’t wait to cross the next stepping stone He places on my writing path!

Photo Credits: © 2017 Nina Faye Morey