The Matthew 28:19 Project

Every now and then, I decide it’s time to push myself out of my comfort zone. I do not know why I do this, because it usually does not end well for me. For instance, a couple of years ago, I decided I was too comfortable at my job, too bored, and needed to do something else. I left my job and realized a few months later that what I thought was the best move for my career turned out to be the worst. I even thought about switching from family law to criminal law, but all I really learned during that entire process was that I was already where I needed to be, and where God wanted me to be. I only stayed six months at the new job before going back to the old one.

I know how extremely lucky I am to have been able to go back, but I also know it was God’s will. I love my job, the firm, and all my coworkers. They are my second family—actually, my third, after my real family and my church family. And somehow, along the way, I have managed to spread a little Jesus throughout the office.

I recently decorated our office in a beachy theme, and two of my coworkers suggested we put my little Jesus in the decorations. One said we needed a little Jesus sitting in a chair, and another suggested we needed a little Jesus on a boat. Now, I do not know why it never occurred to me to put my little Jesus at the foot of the little sailboat, but how exciting is it that someone else suggested it? She didn’t know the significance of her suggestion, but I did.

I am making an impact on their lives.

Maybe that is one of the things I have learned about comfort zones. Sometimes we step outside them because we think we need a change, only for God to show us that He has already planted us exactly where He wants us. Other times, He moves us beyond them because He wants us to do something new. Either way, God can use every step, even the ones that seem to take us in the wrong direction. That leads me to think about stepping stones and how He will lay the stones in front of your path, and it’s up to you to take each step.

Last year, I wrote a blog called “Stepping Stones,” in which I wrote about the stones God has laid in my path that have led me to where I am today. I wrote:

“I am reflecting on some of the other stones that God laid down for me. I began creating digital content for social media because I wanted to become more involved in my church, but I struggled to find my place. I’m not good with kids, but when Awana started, I thought they might want photos, so I volunteered to be the club’s photographer. I posted the pictures on my Facebook page because I didn’t know what else I could do with them. I was reading the daily scripture in the Bible app and realized I could use photos of the Awana kids to create my own Bible verse of the day. I started designing graphics with Bible verses and the pictures I had taken at Awana.”

Awana started in 2024, so for the past two years I’ve been steadily taking pictures, creating content, getting to know the kids, and rooting for them as they learn about Jesus. I started taking pictures for Awana because I didn’t know what else to do. I am not a teacher, and I didn’t think I had the talent to connect with kids on their level. But I am very good at taking pictures, writing my thoughts on a blog, and creating content to promote Jesus, our church, and Awana.

Photography was comfortable. Creating content was comfortable. I had found my place, or at least I thought I had.

But a funny thing happened during the last Awana session. I started thinking about transitioning into a different role within the Awana clubs. I could still take pictures, promote Awana, and create content, but suddenly I started thinking about doing more.

And you know from reading my blogs that when a sudden, unexpected idea pops into my head, it’s usually the Lord getting sneaky with me.

The last time He got sneaky with me and put a sudden, unexpected thought into my head, He suggested putting Pastor Buddy on TikTok. That turned out to be a great idea! I didn’t think anyone in the TikTok world would want to see a pastor from a small town in North Carolina preach about Jesus.

They do!

A young lady in the Philippines saw one of his videos and accepted Jesus as her Savior. That is the most awesome thing!

So, let me tell you about this new, sudden, unexpected idea that popped into my head during the last Awana session. I thought about helping as a teacher’s assistant for either the Sparks or T&T clubs. That seemed reasonable. I could help. I could ease into it. I could stay relatively close to the edge of my comfort zone without wandering too far away from it. Then I told our leader I wanted to help, and the next thing I knew, she suggested I teach the T&T club.

Wait. What?

I already know I’m not ready for that because (1) I am not a teacher and have never taught a class in my life, and (2) these kids only know me as the lady who is always taking their pictures. I am not even sure I know how to connect with the kids in the T&T club.

But I have been thinking this over during my commute to Raleigh for work, and then I had another one of those ideas that seemed to come out of nowhere.

We could tag-team as teachers!

I think tag-teaming would help me get comfortable with the kids and help them get comfortable with me. It would give me time to figure out how to connect with them on their level. Maybe a semester of tag-teaming would give me the confidence I need to take the class completely next spring, while allowing my awesome leader to eventually focus on leading.

And honestly, I am still not completely sure this is going to work.

I’m going way out of my comfort zone here.

But the idea is now rooted in my mind, so we’ll see where this leads. Jesus was always willing to meet people where they were, so that is a pretty good example for me to follow as I ponder how to accomplish all of this.

I also haven’t mentioned this idea to my leader yet, so I guess she’s going to be surprised when she reads my blog!

And that brings me right back to those stepping stones.

Maybe God doesn’t always shove us out of our comfort zones in one giant leap. Maybe He lays down a stone. Then another. Then another. We step onto each one without realizing exactly where the path leads until one day we look up and discover that we are standing somewhere we never imagined ourselves.

When I think about the stones God has laid in my path since I took that first Awana picture two years ago, I can see the path a little more clearly now. First, take pictures. Then create Bible verse graphics. Then create content. Then get to know the kids. Then begin to care about them and root for them. Then start wondering if maybe there is something more I can do.

And now—teach?

If you had told me two years ago that I would even be considering teaching in the T&T class, I would have laughed at you and told you that you had the wrong person. That would have been a big fat nope on a rope.

But here we are…

He sure is sneaky like that.

Speaking of going outside my comfort zone, it has now been over a year since I wrote my first blog. Since then, I created a website, and God has worked miracles through the blog, the website, and The Matthew 28:19 Project’s Facebook page. None of this began with some grand plan. It began with small steps—stepping stones—that kept leading me a little farther than I ever expected to go.

And maybe that is what I am finally learning about comfort zones.

When God wants to move us beyond what is comfortable, He doesn’t always show us the entire path. Sometimes He just puts the next stone in front of us and asks us to step on it. We may not know where it leads. We may not feel qualified for where we are going. We may even be absolutely certain that He has the wrong person.

But we take the step anyway.

I can’t wait to see where He leads us as we work toward our two-year anniversary. Knowing Him, He’ll probably place another sudden, unexpected idea in my head, put another stepping stone in front of me, and we’ll be off and running in a completely new direction, and completely out of my comfort zone.

He sure is sneaky like that.

And I can’t wait!