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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me do things "outside my comfort zone!" Amen.

Jesus told this story: "A man heard his servant was wasting his money and said he'd be fired. 'What will I do?' the servant worried. He figured people would help him if he helped them, so he called those who owed his master money. 'Whatever you owe, now you only owe half,' he told them. The master praised his servant for being smart. Like that servant," Jesus finished, "you won't be trusted with big things like going to heaven if you can't be trusted with small things like money now."

A lot of adults say weird things like, "I'm out of my comfort zone." What does that even mean?

Your comfort zone is your routine, the things that happen so often, you don't even think about them. Maybe you have a swimming lesson on Thursdays or watch Nick at Nite after dinner. When you do those things, you're in your comfort zone.

A new school year can take you way out of your comfort zone! It takes a few weeks for the routine of a new homeroom and new classes and teachers to become comfortable.

This week's Gospel (Luke 16:1-13) is about getting out of your comfort zone. A servant who's being fired decides to forgive other people's debts, so they'll be nice to him when he's out of a job. He's taking a big risk, since his master could get even angrier, but getting out of his comfort zone works: His master is impressed that he can be trusted after all.

When school takes you out of your comfort zone, the only thing to do is what the servant did: Take a leap. Ask for homework help. Join clubs. Say hi to any new kids and let them know they're welcome. Be friendly with your new teachers, even the scary ones.

As the servant found out, getting out of your comfort zone can put you back in it!

(09/16/10)[[In-content Ad]]

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