STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Did you ever step out of your comfort zone and learn something new?

Last summer I took a class in digital photography to learn about cameras, taking pictures and how to organize them on your computer. I had a year and a half of pictures on my camera, yet my lack of computer skills had me stuck. I was nervous about the class. Yet this class was just what I needed to get unstuck.

Everyone in the class seemed to know something and wanted to learn more. As the week went by, we were exposed to many new ideas and learned from each other. We practiced how to clone, crop, edit things out and in, and make someone lose a few pounds around the middle. We learned all the buttons on our cameras. We practiced shooting pictures that were overexposed, underexposed, had too much sun and too much shade. We learned to organize files. We took pictures, and our professor critiqued them.

There was even an exhibition of our pictures at the end of the week. I received many compliments on the photograph I entered in the exhibit. I was surprised so many people really liked my picture. I took it because I liked the subject, and it looked good to me. It didn’t seem fancy, though many thought it special.

I began to redefine the word “artist.” I always thought an artist was someone who painted or could draw well – I did neither. Yet, these people were telling me I was an artist.

Whenever God has an insight for me, I get this intense feeling, often with tears. At this point God was reinforcing the statement from others, that I was an artist. I acknowledged the gift and was in awe. Even as I write this, I can still feel the intense feelings and awe about this revelation. This was such a God incident. I was not expecting it.

I was exploring an interest in a secular setting, yet what I experienced was an intense encounter with God. I think the Samaritan woman may have felt like this too. She was at the well drawing water, going about her everyday business. Then she has an encounter with God. When we encounter God in this way, we are given living water.

It started with a willingness to step out of my comfort zone and try something I knew was hard for me. I was willing to be vulnerable, to make mistakes and look silly. I was committed to the hard work required to learn this new skill. Then I was able to receive God’s blessing on my artistic gift.

Now I take more pictures. Some are framed and hanging on my family room wall, others have become cards. Who knows where God will lead me with this artistic gift? Who will be blessed? What a beautiful world our God has created.

— Elaine Woodward

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist