"Life begins at the end of our comfort zone. We go there by stretching."

A thought by John C Maxwell,. (2012-10-02) from his book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential (p. 157). Center Street. Kindle Edition.

For many that is hard to understand. The last time they stretched was when they got married. That was a great enough risk for them. But the truth is that stretch was one of the best things I ever did in life. It will be 39 years of marriage on November 9th. And life truly did begin when Margaret said, “I do”.

Another stretch happened when we had our kids. It has been thirty plus years with Brett and Stef in our lives. A lot of ups and downs but without a doubt it has been well worth the stretch. I have counted it a great privilege to be a parent and now a grandparent.

Another stretch happened when I accepted the call to full time ministry. It was a stretch for me to be a staff minister and then to be a church planter. It is so great to get connected on Facebook to those who have been a part of the different assignments that I had. It was a stretch but it was well worth the stretch.

And then retirement has also been a stretch. To going from my comfort of being a pastor to now being a blogger has been a stretch. And it has been worth the stretch. I love writing and connecting with people around the world. It has been so rewarding to connect and still minister to people from past days and also to new friends. Thanks God.

The truth is, I have loved my life and I am looking forward to the rest of my life. I would never want to go back. Each of my moves have been rewarding moves. They really have. But I am living in the today with being open to the future. My life is not in the comfort of yesterday but in the stretching of today and tomorrow. And it has been so worth it.

What about you?

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“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

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