A funny thing happened to me on a recent trip to the grocery store. I was craving this yummy spaghetti squash that my BFF and podcast co-host Karen Salisbury had made for me during a recent visit.
As I perused the squash aisle, I saw a contender and placed it in my cart. When I arrived home, I couldn’t wait to text Karen to alert her of my find. I sent her a photo and here was her response:
“That’s a butternut squash.”
Whaat? Yeah… three college degrees and no clue about how to pick out spaghetti squash. It’s ok. You can laugh. Karen and I sure did!
To make matters worse, I also had no clue how to cook it, which set off a firestorm of social media posts with recipes that far exceeded my basic cooking abilities.
Still craving the dish Karen had made, days later, I headed back to the store. This time I got the right squash! I cooked it and voila! When Karen saw my creation, she gave me a virtual high five.
In less than a week, I’d learned how to cook two new food items, and it wasn’t as difficult as I’d imagined.
Trying new things can be scary, right? The unknown is…well…unknown!
Imagine how the apostles and so many others we read about in the Bible must’ve felt. Abraham going to a land he didn’t know. Moses leading millions out of slavery. David fighting a giant. Esther saving a nation. Paul preaching the gospel after being known as a persecutor of Christians. I could go on and on.
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” (Isiah 41:10 NKJV)
None of these people had any prior experience on their resumes to do any of the feats they were called and anointed to do. Yet, here we are thousands of years later, learning from and celebrating their courage to “try something new.”
Here’s what I’m learning:
Doing new things can be scary, but if we take them in bite-sized pieces, it lessens the fear factor.
For example, years ago, I wanted to start a podcast. I had no idea how to do this so I took a class. Then I set it up on the podcasting platform. Within a few months, the show was live. Soon after, Karen joined me as co-host. Then we launched it on YouTube.
By the end of this year, we will have published 225 episodes!
This week I’d like to encourage you to take a baby step toward something new. Whether it’s cooking a new meal, taking a class, or stepping out on karaoke night.
The only thing worse than trying something new and not succeeding, is not trying at all.
Go for it!