New adventures mean leaving our comfort zone

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar with wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary; they will walk and not be faint."

- Isaiah 41:31 (NIV)

I have heard the mother eagle builds her nest in layers. The first layer of her nest is built with blunt, sharp, painful objects. This may include thorns, twigs, and small pieces of glass. Who would have suspected this from a loving mother?

She then disguises this layer with soft, feathery objects. Resting on protective padding, the baby eagle's first experience is one of comfort, where they are nourished and fed.

But when the time comes for the babies to prepare to venture out on their own, the mother starts to stir up the nest by removing some of the protective padding from the second layer. When faced with sleeping on twigs, thorns and other sharp objects, the nest doesn't feel like the soft, comfortable place it once was.

In an attempt to escape the discomfort, the eaglets hop to the edge of the nest, where they take a fall for their first flying lesson. The young ones don't fall too far from the nest, until the mama comes and swoops them up on her wings and carries them back to a place of safety until it's time for their next flying lesson.

If it weren't for the mother stirring up the nest, these babies would never spread their wings and fly.

We all have a special nesting place where we feel comfortable, whether it is physical or emotional comfort. Then there comes a point in time when something occurs and we don't feel so comfortable there anymore.

It may be God stirring up our nest to let us know it's time to leave our place of comfort and learn to fly into a new adventure in life - or stretch ourselves to learn a new way of doing things - something we may have never discovered had we remained in our comfort zone.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at P.O. Box 532, Grayslake, IL 60030; (847) 543-8413; or Annetteebudzban@aol.com.