WHEN AN UNEXPECTED DOOR OPENS...
BUT CHANGE IS NEVER EASY...
What others have said
People can open doors for you, but you … must walk through. — John C. Maxwell
Doors to beautiful things do not remain open forever. Be fast to enter inside! Mehmet Murat ildan
When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Alexander Graham Bell
Life is so subtle sometimes that you barely notice yourself walking through the doors you once prayed would open. Mounaks
Traveling is not just seeing the new; it is also leaving behind. Not just opening doors; also closing them behind you, never to return. But the place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes. Jan Myrdal
God will open doors for you that you never expected…. Kumari Yeswani
Just as God opens doors, God closes doors. Don’t get stuck trying to hold on to something that’s over and done. Dheeraj Bisani1
About
Finally, I am back!
I know I made a similar statement back in May, which was on the occasion of my last issue of Ethical Fire. This time around, however, you can, as we say in Texas, "take it to the bank" that I am back.
Here is the back story of my absence. I hope it encourages you.
An unexpected journey
In the summer of 2005, Linda and I contracted to purchase a home next to a small lake in Cypress, Texas. When we executed the purchase contract, the house was nothing but a concrete slab and some two-by-fours. We bought the property because it was next to the small lake, and we had no neighbors on three sides of the house. It was like living in the country but in the middle of a large metropolitan area. We were convinced this would be our final home in this life.
In May of last year, I began feeling this unexpected urging in my spirit that it was time for us to move to new pastures. I discussed this with Linda, and we both thought this was a surprising (and unwelcome) bolt out of the blue. So, being the believing Christian I am, I asked God for a sign. You should never ask for something you're not ready to receive.
Without a storm or even high winds, the very next morning my prized fig tree was split right down the middle and had fallen over. I had planted that tree when it was just a twig. Over the years, it flourished, reaching a height of thirty feet and producing multiple bushels of figs every season. Sadly, the wound was too great. Over the next few months, the tree died. I was angry and sad but still not convinced.
So, like the biblical Gideon, I asked for a second sign. Within days, my emerging baby pears began withering, turning black, and falling from the tree. And, my next-door neighbor sold his house, on a single Saturday morning, for twice what he had paid for it. Both of these developments really caught my attention. But, I was still not convinced and could easily come up with many reasons why moving was not a good idea.
By this time, it was late August, and the prime selling season had passed. So, we decided that it was best to wait until the next spring, which was this past spring. Then, my consulting business began slowing down to a trickle, and I wondered whether it was another sign. I consulted the Lord once again. His response was — ”I have moved your blessing place. just like Abraham, you are to move from here to a place I will show you.”
So, during the Christmas season of 2022, we signed a contract with a real estate broker to sell the house. It took three months to complete the necessary renovations for a full-priced sale. We sold the house in May still not knowing where we were going to move. We were prepared to put all of our stuff into storage when we decided to take another drive (we had already taken a dozen) through the countryside outside of Huntsville, Texas.
We happened upon an obscure new community that was being carved out of the woods, and we began driving around the neighborhood looking at the houses. We did not see anything that interested us until we drove by a house with a homemade sign in the front yard. Immediately, I knew this was the place.
We are now living in that house with a backyard that backs up to a forest and a nature preserve within easy walking distance. Linda and I both grew up on a farm, she in Texas and me in Indiana. Neither of us ever desired to become farmers again, but I suppose we both harbored a secret desire in our hearts to live in the country again. So, here we are living in a new home, nine miles outside of Huntsville, Texas, in a small community nestled in the woods…and we have gigabit fiber Internet service!!
Our new blessing place
Moving is never easy. Up until we had moved into our "dream home" in 2005, we had moved every few years. It was unpleasant but not overwhelming. This moving experience was much different. We had lived in our home for nearly 18 years and, as people are wont to do, had accumulated quite a collection of "stuff."
Getting rid of that "stuff" was a gut-wrenching experience because a lot of it had great sentimental value. But, if you have no place to put it, it has to go. We became regular visitors to the local Goodwill donation center. But, if you believe in sowing seeds like we do, we sowed enough seeds to populate many large cornfields!
The lessons from this experience are many. My hope for sharing this experience with you is to encourage you next time you are presented with an unexpected open door. And, if you are a believer, immediate obedience is better than delayed obedience. Because we waited a year to sell the house, we lost $50,000 of additional selling price because of increased interest rates and a softening market.
So, when presented with unexpected open doors, walk through them immediately. God always has a plan B, but plan A is always much better. Now that this transition is complete, we could not be happier and more at peace with the result. So, I will return next week, and we will recommence our journey to a more ethically intelligent life!
Next time, we recommence the journey.
Remember, you cannot lie and be ethically intelligent.
Until then, Shalom!
September 5, 2023, Volume 3, Issue 8
References
Unless otherwise noted, quotations are taken from A-Z Quotes, Goodreads, The Random Vibez, and Brainy Quotes.