Doorways

Doorways represent hope, opportunity, a return home, a entrance to something potentially wonderful.

These are doorways I took pictures of over the course of a couple days in Italy, but I've been thinking about doorways that have come into my life lately; some have appeared recently, other ones have been there for for a long time and have become more dear as they become more clear.

Doorways that include people's hearts, ordinary yet long-known places, returning of the fall sunshine and some abstractions like living life fully, the quietness of peace and belonging and ideas of forever.

Doorways can be terrifying, though. What if that long-awaited doorway is obstructed? What if this one leads to unexpected gloom? What if going through this one causes pain and disorder for others?

Sometimes, I ignore doorways because the hope is outweighed by fear.

It's really sad to read that now that I write it down. Lately, I've been looking back at all the wonderful things that God has done in my life. He worked out so many things even better than I could imagine, yet many times, I spent a lot of time fretful and anxious until everything was resolved.

No more! I resolved with Jesus that I will walk rejoicing through the confusion and fear that seems to frame  every doorway like doorposts. He tells me to rejoice always* and being a logical God, if he tells me to rejoice, there has to be a reason to rejoice! I want my faith to be bold enough to find it. 

 Because walking with a fearless heart sounds like so much more fun than fear. Agreed?