He Opens a Window
by Catherine Castle
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.
