When God Closes a Door . . .

He Opens a Window

by Catherine Castle 

 

courtesy of pixabay

I’ve been a gardener all my life. When I lived in apartments I gardened on the windowsills and balconies. When I looked at the backyard of my first purchased home, I saw a flat plot with a space for a large corner garden, and I was in heaven. I’ve moved flowers from my mother’s home across the USA so they would always be in my yard as a reminder of her. In my most recent home, which is all hillside, I still saw garden potential with terraced flowerbeds. It had been my goal to garden until the day I died.

 

But last year my body betrayed me with a shattered shoulder, cancer, and a spiral break in the same arm in which I shattered my shoulder. As much as my heart wanted to believe I could garden the way I had 15 years ago, my head said I was becoming too unstable to navigate the slopes and terraced beds.  My husband was afraid I’d fall on the uneven terrain of my garden, and, frankly, so was I. I became a gardener who got to watch the hired landscapers do the work I loved and had always done myself. The loss of my time in nature, pulling weeds, and digging in the earth was, and still is, a sad thing to bear.

 But, as this devotion title says, When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Window. Now, I know this quote isn’t from the Bible, but I see it happening in my life, and sometimes that window causes you to stretch to places you thought you’d never go.

 Recently our church lost their second pianist, throwing all the work onto one person. God put the burden on my heart to help. But I wasn’t a piano player. Although I attended the music conservatory in my hometown, taking piano for one year, I never achieved the skill or the confidence to play in public. Sure, I could peck out a tune on the electric Wurlitzer keyboard we bought after we were married, but I wasn’t good enough to play in front of anyone. My husband walking into the room would set my fingers fluttering over all the wrong keys.

 I’ve sung since I was a child. Getting up in front of hundreds of people at church or singing a solo has never been a problem for me. It’s a joy I gladly do. I’ve even played my guitar in public, although it has been decades since I played. Singing, however, is a whole different thing than playing a piano. Play in front of a whole bunch of people? That was never going to happen!

 But, miraculously, it has. The window God opened, when he closed my gardening door, is the piano.

Spurred on by the need we saw, my husband and I bought a new piano, fulfilling a dream we never thought we’d do. Ever since the purchase my passion has changed. My legs don’t have to be stable to sit at the piano and play—I just need my arms, hands and fingers. After six months of practice, then breaking my arm and waiting for it to be released from its sling, I played piano at our evening service, taking over so the regular pianist could have a break.

Was I perfect? Heavens, no! But I learned to keep going even when I missed notes, and, trust me, in my nervousness I missed quite a few. A month after playing for evening service, I played at the morning service with the organist covering up my mistakes.

 Someday, I hope to reach a more perfect stage in my playing. I’m certain I will never reach the skill level of our talented pianist who can play from memory, transpose and sight read just about anything, and arpeggio all over the keyboard. But I’m working toward being the best pianist I can.

 I still look longingly at the garden and my fingers itch to pull up the weeds and deadhead the spent blossoms. I pause as I pass the flowers at Home Depot, wanting to snatch some up, but  I’m learning to step back on that part of my life. Looking at the closed door doesn’t hurt as much as it did.

 Every day I rejoice in the window he opened for me, because I know “that for those who love God all things work together for good...”  ESV Now I’m looking forward to a new passion, a new way to serve my God.

 

 

What about you? Has God ever closed a door and opened a window in your life?

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.