Closed Doors

Our front door is made of glass. Not the kind with palm trees or flamingos etched into it, but just a framed piece of solid, clear glass with no design or tint to askew one's view inside or out. At one time there were blinds attached to our door but our neurotic-squirrel-obsessed dog shredded them in her attempts to claw through to get to the furry, teasing creatures outside. So, as you can imagine, there is no hiding behind our door. No peeking through the peep hole before deciding to open it or not and no warnings of the solicitors, Jehovah Witnesses or UPS guys that show up unannounced. It's there for the world to see that we, in our pajamas and messy hair at 1:00 in the afternoon, have not had a productive morning. But on the other hand, in the mornings our glass door allows beautiful sunrises to come shining through and brightens the front room and hallway. It's a great door.

I often pray for doors. I'm either praying, "Lord, open the doors you want me to walk through..." or "Lord, if this isn't the door you want me to go through, please close it." I rarely picture the the doors I'm praying for as clear, glass doors though. They are usually solid steel and either wide open or closed and locked. And when I come upon a door that has been opened I usually hesitate before going through. Even though I may have prayed for the door to open, I still find myself looking around for someone to go through first, to see what will happen, before I attempt to go through. I ask myself, "Is this door really open? Am I really supposed to go through it?" Then on the other hand, when a door closes, I find myself trying to pry it open and as I call for Eric to bring me a crow bar, it flings open only to reveal that it's not the door I wanted to go through after all.

Lots of times the Lord has clearly closed doors on me but in my stubbornness or in my lack of faith I have still tried numerous "keys" to get the doors to unlock and open. These are times when I believe MY will is better than HIS. I have never been right. Oh that the Lord would always provide clear glass doors so that we could "see" what lies ahead. To see what we are or are not missing out on. Why doesn't he? Why doesn't he make it easy for us? Why must we wait? Why doesn't he do what we think he should do? Because there is no faith required or miracle remembered in the quick, the easy or the "clear". Thank you Lord for giving me closed doors, help me to retire from my locksmith career.

If you were to stop by my house and peer through our glass door you would not only come face-to-face with our drooling dog, but would probably catch a glimpse of me in an apron splattered with spaghetti sauce since we are having meatball subs for dinner tonight!

Meatball Subs
4 hoagie buns
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 slices Provolone cheese
1 (26 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the beef and next 6 ingredients. Mix well the form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until juices run clear. Pour spaghetti sauce in a medium size sauce pan and warm over medium heat. Add meatballs and simmer 30 minutes. Open hoagie buns and place meatballs with sauce inside, top with provolone cheese. Serve with salad and enjoy.