"Remember, When God closes a door, He opens a window."Wow!!! I clutched it to my chest, and held it close...and said, "Thank you, Lord, for this little gift just for me today!" Not only was it the exact saying behind the title of my Blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows", but it was precisely the message that I needed to remember today. You may wonder why, and I don't really have to tell you why, but just suffice it to say that I needed that reminder. And yes, I added it to my purchases for the day...a Christmas gift to me from God....
God had already been preparing me for a message from Him earlier as I was aimlessly driving around, trying to figure out where to go next in my shopping dilemma, and I found myself literally crying not just about the shopping, but about life in general...and He gave me words of comfort and hope...that my days of sorrow and sadness would soon be ended, and that days of great joy and gladness were just around the corner...the verse quoted above from Isaiah 54 was written for the Israelites, when they were pictured as the "restored wife of the Lord". They were going to be brought back to their own land from their places of captivity and years of barrenness as a nation. Don't try to read too much into this as it relates to my own situation, but just know that it comforts me personally...and it all ties in with the little saying that I rediscovered in my journey..."Remember, When God closes a door, He opens a window..."...."Enlarge the place of your tent..." Get ready for action and growth....God is getting ready to do something. (Close a door? Open a window?) (NOTE FROM 2012: In just a very short time from the original writing of this post, God did do something very marvelous in our lives...as many of you are aware, we were able to make a major move to our present home in the forest...and we have definitely "enlarged the place our tent"...God has truly blessed in ways far beyond my imagination when I wrote this last year! Our God is an awesome God!...but, you already knew that, didn't you?)
How about you? Do you need that message of hope and encouragement today? Is all the scurrying about and worrying and fretting about what to do about this, and what to do about that, and getting ready for Christmas ( in the material sense) getting you down? Maybe you need to be reminded that God is working behind the scenes in your life as well, working on a plan to give you new hope for the New Year... Why not take a few minutes out of your hectic schedule and sit down and let Him talk to you today? You may be surprised at the message He has for you.
May your Christmas be truly blessed with joy and gifts from "out of this world", and may your New Year be the beginning of many new open windows of opportunity.
Aunt Pam, Thank you for writing this today. This is exactly how I have been feeling. I just walked in from 8-9 hours of shopping and I barely scratched the surface of what I needed to buy. On my way home I decided that my status post was going to be....I hate that I hate Christmas. Your post is my gift from God!
ReplyDeletePam, I,too,thank you for this post! I know exactly how you feel as I feel it too. I haven't even been going out much since I know that buying all that I would like to buy is only going to put us further behind and in more debt. I have instead been decorating my home for the first time in several years. I'm finding decor that I had totally forgotten about, some I'm using and a lot of it will go up for sale later! Actually, I'm just putting off the inevitable---I really need (or at least I think I do) to get out and shop for "something" of which I don't even know what!!That's the worst part-when I don't even know what would be the "perfect" gift(s). Why DO we do this to ourselves?? WHO are we trying to please?? Isn't it more important to please God by just letting our love for each other be enough? Just being together should be enough! We DO have the best gift of all and that is God's gift to us--Jesus---the REAL reason for this season! Are we pleasing Him as much as we try to please each other with our gifts?
ReplyDeleteDebbie's status post is so true! I look forward to this time of year because of the flood of happy memories from years past, but then I just want it to fast forward to January, so I can just "start anew"!
My hope and prayers is that we all can "start anew" with more thoughts and actions toward making our next year and next Christmas all that it really should be--making it all about the best gift of all!!
I love you
Doris
PS--I also love that little picture of yours--with it's pretty--daffodils!!!
Bless you Sweet Friend, I am so happy that God lead you to that great gift! Love His little "kisses" like that so much!
ReplyDeleteTo my Sister Doris and my niece Debbie above I say: We are all cut from the same mold...Thanks to our dear sweet Mama, may she rest in peace...She's probably chuckling at us girls down here doing just what she always did...and saying, "Whew! I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore! Now I've got Christmas everyday in Heaven!" (We miss you Mom). And yes, Doris, I saw the daffodils and thought of you first...that's really what caught my eye as I was looking for a gift for YOU! But instead, it was for ME!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd Dear RCL Susie: Yes...God's little kisses are so precious...He knows exactly the perfect gift for each of us...doesn't have to worry about size, color, price, or even if we'll like it! He KNOWS we will love it because He designed it specifically for us!
I feel SO MUCH BETTER TODAY! Not sure if all my shopping is done, but at this point...it's going to be just fine, no matter what!!!
Love and kisses to all of you today!!
Thanks for this post Pamela. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary! I'm afraid I'm a bit behind in this season, and not keeping up with my reading and writing like I'd like to. One day at a time...one step at a time...we will make it ! With God's help...always.
DeleteHave a blessed Christmas!