Stepping out of my Comfort Zone

If you've kept up with my blog at all you know that my boys have been sick a lot this year.  (NOT a big fan of 2013 so far....)

Recently we were held hostage in our house for almost three weeks because of fevers and lung issues, if it wasn't one it was another type of situation.

Unfortunately that meant we had to miss sunday school, church, music class (our church provides a music class for the younger kids at church during our evening service), and CBS (Community Bible Study) three weeks in a row.  Fortunately the boys were all well enough... and the weather was warm enough... that we didn't have to miss park day the one friday but other than that we were under house arrest!

This meant that my boys were spending an enormous amount of time with each other and none with their usual playmates elsewhere.  I am blessed that they, for the most part, get along really well.  Just as with any other sibling relationship, however, they have their ups and downs (best friends one minute, mortal enemies the next).

Josh voiced his desire to play with his other friends at one point during this very long period and I felt so bad for him... hey, I was a kid once, I remember wanting to play with someone other than my sisters!

That night, after they were all tucked in I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my husband when I remembered I had taken the number of Josh's BFF from preschool last year.  We had discussed wanting to get the boys together over the summer but it didn't work out with vacations and David joining our family, etc.

I must admit, I sat there contemplating this idea for quite a bit before I decided that I was going to give her a call the next day and see if we could set something up.  The idea of calling this person made me a little nervous.  After all, I only knew her from a few short conversations at the school when we were dropping the boys off and picking them up two days a week.  I remembered her being very sweet and kind but I only knew her as well as you can know a person in passing.

Our boys sure hit it off though, they were best friends from the first day of school.  Josh makes friends easily and had several others in the class that he would play with and talk about later at home but he would tell great stories about what he had done with his friend Colton that day.

The next day, after we finished our morning routine, I sent the boys outside to play and picked up my phone.  We had a wonderful conversation and agreed that we should get the boys together again.

So, Thursday we met them at a local Chick-Fil-A and the boys had a BLAST!  We all sat down and had some lunch and then the boys played for almost two hours in the play area.

While they played I got to sit and chat with Colton's mom, Courtney, and get to know her a little better. I really enjoyed our conversation and we actually have a lot in common!

After we got home that day I got to thinking about how this whole homeschooling journey has really encouraged me to step out of my routine, my "comfort zone" and try new things, meet new people.

Soon after we made this decision I took the boys to our first "park day" and I was a little apprehensive. After all, I didn't know the women who were going to be there.  I knew of one who was a friend's family member but I hadn't met her in person yet and it turned out that I did know another from a choir I sing in each year but I had no idea what any of them were going to think of me and my boys.

I know, I know we're not supposed to worry about what other's think of us but hey, I'm only human!

So many questions going into a new setting such as these.  Will the boys get along with the kids there?  Will I get along with the other mothers?  Will I have anything in common with any of them?  Will I be the youngest mother there?

My age has always been something I wonder about since now-a-days I am considered a younger mother and the fact that I have 3 kids now before my 30th birthday is amazing (even crazy) to some.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't matter in the least it's just something I've noticed over the past 5 1/2 years :)

There you have it, my friends, this journey is definitely not just for the kids but I'm along for the ride as well.  I can't even describe in words how different our lives have been since we made this decision, how our attitudes toward each other have evolved... but again, another post for another day.

How do you challenge yourself and step out of your "comfort zone"?