Core Scripture: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Message: There I was.  It was 3:30 am, and I was on my first break ever at Amazon.  I wandered into the large cafeteria style break room and glanced around.  Where do I sit?  So many options. 

Do I pick a random spot and hope someone I know sits down next to me?  Should I find one of the few people I trained with and try to make conversation with them?  Man, this was eerily similar to the first day of school way back when, going to lunch, hoping you made the right choice. 

What was the right choice?  Lord, help me!

Everyone that had already sat down was on their phone.  That seemed like a safe bet.  I pulled out a chair near one of my new Amazonian friends and scrolled my phone.  If the mood struck, maybe I would talk to him.  I deleted a few emails.  Read my FCA daily devotion.  Swiped a few notifications away. 

And then I just quietly observed.

Some people were talking.  Just quiet conversations.  A more jovial group was centered in the middle, laughing and snacking on Doritos and sipping coffee.  Were they the popular group?  Seemed that way to me.  Another cluster of Amazonians were talking in their native language from Africa.  But most were just comatose with earbuds in. 

Amazon allows three breaks.  The first and last are 15 minutes long, but the middle break is a full half hour.  I had packed a “lunch” to eat.  (Not sure why they call it lunch at 5:30 am, but they do.) I ate a full meal mostly because I knew I needed fuel, and the majority of my colleagues did the same.  Maybe that is why I have actually gained a few pounds since starting work there.  Especially since I eat a SECOND lunch at home following shift!

I tried making conversation that first lunch break, but it was still a bit awkward.  I noticed most people sat in the exact same spot as they did the first break.  Kinda like school or church.  It made me wonder why we do that?  Comfort I suppose.  We like to know what to expect, and emerging from your comfort zone is just too risky.

Do you know what I am talking about? 

I started questioning that.  Why do people hardly talk?  Why the same spot every time?  Why the same friends?  Same food, same phones out, same monotonous routine of shuffling in and shuffling out.  The more I did that, the more I became one of the ordinary workers.  And I behaved that way for probably two weeks. 

Lame.

I began to feel a nudge from the Lord to open up.  Try something new.  Meet new faces.  Sit somewhere different.  Mix things up a bit, and dare I say take some steps out of that comfort zone that restricted me.  I didn’t want to be one of those sheep that clocked in and clocked out, going through the motions. 

Drew was my first friend.  It was a safe play.  He was slightly younger than me.  Bald like me.  White like me.  Seemed to be educated like me.  We hit it off well, and as I got to know Drew, I got to know his friend group in the middle table. 

Steve was retired from his previous job and in his 60’s.  He became my mentor.  Steve was driven by a motor not seen in the normal Amazon worker.  The guy was a machine, and I knew I could benefit from his wisdom.  He helped me immensely.

There was Chris.  Close to me in age.  Educated, taller, and total sports nut.  We hit it off well when we realized we both graduated from KU, me in 1999 and him in 2003.  Chris reminded me of the class clown, always making jokes and doing phenomenal voice imitations.  My favorite was his Sean Connery. 

“The day is mine!  I’ll take swords for 100, Alex.”

(Alright, if you missed the reference there, look up Saturday Night Live Celebrity Jeopardy and get prepared to laugh.)

Finally, there was Betty, one of our managers.  Betty was about Steve’s age and had a Southern twang to her voice.  When helping me organize boxes one day, she looked at me, saying, “Aint yew ever play’d Tetris?”  Betty went up a notch in my book when she brought in a baked pecan dessert that had everyone grabbing seconds.  And thirds!

As I befriended this group, it was cool to be accepted by them, but I wasn’t content.  What about the others?  I decided to branch out.  Meet some new people.  A new training group came in a few weeks after I began.  With two weeks under my belt, I felt like I could even share some Amazon wisdom with them. 

Guess what?  Becca became the little sister I never had.  Aaron and I hit it off as we had both previously been involved with education.  And Trevor and I, both middle aged bald guys, shared tips about surviving the midnight shift while loving on our families at home. 

The floodgates had opened.  I decided to amp it up a notch.  I joined the foosball gang, making four new friends there.  Mohamad and I went out to lunch at Panera on one of our days off.  Vaughn, Warren, and I decided we needed to hit up the buffet at Golden Corral up the road, and we finally did this week.  When Chase asked to join us, that was a no brainer.  The more, the merrier!

I felt the Lord calling me to reach out to James, and I did.  We tried the salad buffet at Jason’s Deli one day, and I shared my testimony with him.  Doug and I tried Panda Express another day.  He connected to me one day after he approached me and said, “Clint, you love Jesus, don’t you?”  What a compliment!  We both swapped stories about how God had worked amazing things for His good in our lives. 

I didn’t stop there.  I made a goal to learn a new name every day at Amazon.  What opportunities to enrich relationships!  I learned about Dylan and Zane and how they moved from Oklahoma to Colorado Springs and finally to Kansas.  I found out Bre likes Patrick Mahomes.  She dared me to wear my Mahomes wig on shift for three straight hours during picking time.  I won my choice of snack from the cafeteria: savory peanut M&M’s!

More and more friends became a part of my life.  I gave Chase a few rides home since we discovered we lived only a few blocks away from one another.  Raymond and I bonded while resetting bags at the end of a long shift.  Jesus (pronounced “Hey-sus” and not the Son of God) and I talked Chiefs football.  I opened up to Hayley about my 22 years of being a teacher and how much I missed building relationships with my students.

I could go on, but you get the point.  These new relationships gave me another reason to come to work besides earning a paycheck.  Some people I connected with.  Others I listened to their problems.  Some I gave advice to.  And of course there were some whose relationships did not run too deep, but I tell you what …

It made a difference to use that person’s name in conversation to encourage them.

I must admit that my comfort zone is pretty safe, snuggly, and secure.  There are days I stay there, and on those days, I never seem to grow.  I just exist and plod forward in meaningless cadence with the rest of the sheep that refuse to take a risk.  What I have learned is that on the days I emerge from my safe cocoon to get to know others, I grow relationships.  I connect with others.  I discover new, invigorating details that provide much-needed purpose to my life.     

My advice?  Sneak out of your comfort zone.  Take a risk or two.  Meet someone new today that you have a work relationship with and see if you connect on a deeper level.  You will always have the person that politely gives you the stiff arm and goes back to their own comfort zone, but what if you fostered a new relationship that made a positive impact?  What if you made a friend?  What if you impacted another life for the better?

You never know if a small gesture of friendship toward a colleague will blossom into something special.

Challenge: Get out of your comfort zone.  Meet somebody new this week and get to know them on a more intimate level.  Here are some ideas on how you can achieve this:

• Invite a colleague to coffee or lunch.
• Knock on a classroom door of someone you haven’t talked to in a while.  See what that person is up to.
• Try to find a connection with a colleague and foster a relationship with that person outside of work.  For example, maybe you both enjoy disc golf and want to try out a new course together.
• Allow your students to eat in your classroom once a week to get to know each other.
• Start a Bible study or teacher prayer group before or after school.  Ask your administration the best way to get the word out to promote it.
• Eat lunch in a new spot.  If you are used to eating alone, find a colleague to sit down with.  Or try eating with the students in the cafeteria. 
• Ask if anyone wants to get together to watch the big game over the weekend!
• Start a book club.  Agree on a book to read, and discuss it once a month at someone’s house. 

Bible study: Journal or discuss the following questions …

1. How did Jesus engage others to create new relationships?
2. What other relationships in the Bible happened because characters took a risk to hang out together?
3. How did the early church live their life in fellowship?
4. How will you encourage fellowship in your school?

Prayer points: Lift up the following areas to the Lord …

• Praise God for the opportunities He gives us to connect and grow with colleagues.
• Pray that you will set your comfort zone aside in favor of connecting with others.
• Pray that God will use you in mighty ways to influence others for the positive.

Just for fun: Here is one of my favorite SNL Celebrity Jeopardy episodes, starring Burt Reynolds, French Stewart, and Sean Connery.  I dare you not to laugh!

Prayer: Father, we humbly admit that our comfort zones are too comfy at times.  Help us take productive risks in fostering new relationships with those whom You need us to befriend.  Amen.