Closed Doors

For Every Door You Close.....



Imagine this......You work at a prestigious firm (fill in the job for yourself), and things are going great!  You have been paying all bills on time, you have money for those "unexpected" moments, your children are doing great in school, and you have a healthy social life with a few friends.  Things are looking up in every area of your life and you are the happiest you have been in a long time.  Sounds amazing doesn't it?!   Of course it does.  Everyone loves it when life seems to run "smoothly"  without a hiccup to derail the process.

Now imagine this.....Months later, you are at your desk when you are made aware of some budget cuts that will involve the downsizing of the firm.  It couldn't possibly be you! You have been there longer than most of the employees.  IT IS YOU! 

You're thinking, "How could this happen?!" You start scrambling to speak with your boss to reconsider his decision.  After-all, you have seniority AND you are an amazing employee!  You also try to learn the labor laws for your state to see if there was something you could do to keep this from happening.  To no prevail, you have been let go.  This seems to start a flood of obstacles:  you now have unemployment, but it is nothing close to what you were making so now the bills are falling behind, on top of repairs needed for your cars and home that you can't afford and finally because you don't have the extra money to "hang out" with your friends y'all have seemed to drift apart!  You have applied for countless jobs and because of the economy there is a hiring freeze at the moment. 

You have prayed and cried over and over again, asking the infamous question of all who goes through:  "WHY ME LORD?"  Only to follow it up with, "HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO LAST?"  Eventually that depression and despair, turns into anger and isolation.  It just seems to feel as though everything you touch turns to mud and you are over it!  Months have now passed and unemployment has just about ran its course.  You have applied to many firms and they have yet to call back.  So now you have lowered the bar in the job search and decided to put in applications (not resumes) to a few coffee shops and bakery's. 

Finally  a quaint bakery hires you on a trial basis as a cashier.  Things are going well. So much so, that the owner is trying out a few of your ideas in the company.  You're proving yourself to be a quick, idea-driven, and reliable employee!  As funny as it sounds, you can't remember being this happy at a job!  Your ideas have generated so much revenue, that the owner has offered you a partnership which you happily accept.  Things have only gone up from here:  you have created new pastries and have also teamed up with Pillsbury to take them international!  While you are soaring, you learn that your old firm has folded all together and the stock that you had in the firm (which you forgot about) has now paid out rather handsomely!  LOOK AT GOD!

My point is that sometimes when a door closes, God is allowing it to do so because otherwise you would have never walked out and closed it on your own.  I believe that God looks at us at times, wanting so badly for us to give birth to our greatness that he nudges us in the direction we need to go in.  Sure the path looks rocky and even a little dim (labor pains).  We question the process and the processor with no answer visibly in sight.  That's because we look at the situation with natural eyes, instead of with our spiritual ones.  It comes a time when we just have to remember WHO we are and WHOSE we are! You are a child of the Most High.  Our Father would never forsake us, nor steer us wrong.  BELIEVE THAT! Hold on to that, and the process won't seems as dim, or as long.

I  would often hear my mother say her prayers and toward the end she would say, "God for every door you close, I will not question it.  For every door you open I will gladly walk through it!"  This is also what I want to leave with you.  If a door closes in your life and you know that it was not due to your hand, then trust that God has something oh so much better in store for you!  He has His Master Hand in it!  Until next time, Ciao for now!  







Show Me, Me!

!!!TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOURSELF!!!

My mother and I stood outside talking which seemed like forever and I was telling her of a situation that occurred recently.  After telling her the story I ended by saying that I was tired of "adults" not communicating their feelings until its too late as if they were children and how I was over it.   As I spoke, I immediately regretted telling her due to the look upon her face.  I knew that a lecture was about to take place.......AND IT DID!  My mother has always been the type that would see both sides of the coin but it seemed at that moment she only viewed one, lol! She began to say that I was a hard person to get along with.  That I end relationships too soon because I don't accept people for who they are because I'm too busy wanting them to be me!  She followed it up with saying that my  "adult acquaintances" maybe didn't communicate their issue with me because that tongue of mine is a  little too much to listen to! WHOA!!!!  Now that was a blow to the gut; Especially since I had similar feedback just earlier this week.  

I have been reading a book called "The People Factor"by Van Moody. Its a  book that helps you with the necessary tools to help build successful relationships.  In the book it states that before you build great relationships you have to dissect yourself and see where the problem areas are so you can change them before bringing them into a new relationship.  He suggested that you get people very close to you to answer a few questions, such as:  1) What do you think are my greatest qualities 2) What are my greatest weaknesses 3) What would I need to do to relate better to others.  Well I sent out the questions earlier this week to a few people that I knew would not hold any punches and the consensus was......I WAS PRETTY AWESOME!  

SERIOUSLY THOUGH.....I was a hot mess on paper!  They all agreed that I was loyal, and generous; but they also agreed that I was hard to talk to when I was "on one"  and that I immediately dropped people or situations when it didn't live up to my expectations (in so many words).  

There is a saying that goes:  If one person calls you a duck, don't pay much attention to it; if two people say that you are a duck, begin to question it; but if three call you a duck, then you might be quacking!  In this case, FIVE were calling me a duck, so they must have seen a beak and a feather or two!  Though it didn't feel good to hear, it definitely allowed me to see me through other's eyes.  Though I didn't like it, I definitely respected it and the loved ones who spoke it.  I have asked God with helping me love people where they are at and a mindset not to cut people off so quickly.  I had done that three times just this week under the guidelines of God removing people that aren't good for me out of my life smh.  NOTE TO SELF:  STOP GIVING CREDIT TO GOD FOR THE DISMANTLING OF SOME RELATIONSHIPS WHEN YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEART THAT YOU'RE ALLOWING THE ENEMY TO USE YOU! 

Every now and then its good to take a good look at yourself  and see where you need to improve so that you can become a better you  for the next level of your life.  Ask others to help you in this process, because we all have a blind spot or two when it comes to looking at ourselves.  Be honest with yourselves and open to the process when others are involved. We all have room for improvement and should take every advantage of  the opportunity when given!  Take a chance!  You have nothing to lose.....except some quirks and some excess baggage here and there!  Until next time! Ciao for now!