Mommy Blog

Have you ever come upon one? I have.

People have often told me, “When one door closes, God opens a window.”
Gag.

I don’t know about y’all, but I am neither a cat burglar, nor am I a super-stealth ninja…I don’t often feel the need to climb through windows. I just want to walk through an open door…a WIDE OPEN door. However, life is not usually that easy; at least MY life is not usually that easy. Even my open windows sometimes require some prying lose in order for me to shimmy through.

Closed Doors.

Right now, I am currently banging my head against the closed door of the publishing world. I have not one, but TWO manuscripts ready for publication, with NO agent chomping at the bit to launch either one of them onto the New York Times Best Seller List.

Cry.

On that happy note, I welcome you to my new series The Doors. No, this is not a tribute to the iconic rock band. Believe it or not, I try to stay away from topics that are too polarizing on my blog…topics such as religion or politics. I mostly fill these pages with the rants and ravings of a terrible stay home mom and the crazy shenanigans of my kids (broken bones & the Boss). While my new series does in fact stay away from the political arena, I cannot say the same the for the religion. Before you exit out of my blog, leave my page, or simply roll your eyes in exasperation, hear me out. In six weeks’ time the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation will take place.

500th Anniversary.

This is a big deal. I cannot in good conscience or faith…or being a solid, card-carrying Lutheran, let this momentous occasion pass without my input.

For those of you who might be a bit rusty on your church history, allow me a brief minute to explain: On October 30, 1517 a Catholic monk named, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther inadvertently started the Protestant Reformation. In reality, he only meant to start a dialog within the Catholic church to discuss some things that were bothering him. In 1517, the church door was THE place to air out your issues. Today, it’s Facebook.

Luther had 95 statements he wanted to talk about. You see, he had been doing some thinking. Luther was a great thinker. You might be thinking, “WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CLOSED DOORS?” Well, Luther wasn’t always the Father of the Reformation…he wasn’t always a monk…he came up against a few Closed Doors in his time.

Martin Luther started his adult life in law school, but thanks to a fairly ferocious thunderstorm and one hastily uttered prayer to Saint Anne for his comfort and safety, a door closed to law school, and Luther became an Augustinian monk. Luther used the brain-power he had been applying to his legal studies to pour over God’s Word, and was deeply distressed over the state of his own sinful nature and the state of the church. Through prayer, study, and self-reflection, another door closed for Luther: that of his Catholicism. He just didn’t know it yet.

Closed Doors.

We have all run into closed doors. I am dealing with a big, closed door right now. I’d bet dollars to donuts that in some way, and in some form, you are, too. To be perfectly honest, I HATE closed doors. They are frustrating and annoying. I have beat my head against them and rapped my knuckles so hard against them, they bled. The thing about closed doors, is that they force us to alter our path and change directions. We do not always understand the reasons for the change. Sometimes that reason takes years to comprehend.

I hope you will stay with me over the next six weeks. I realize that not everyone is as excited about church history as I am, but I promise to show you what’s on other side of this Closed Door. Martin Luther was a rebel, a trend-setter, an outcast, and an outlaw…He defied the status quo and stood his ground.

I want to encourage you this week to take a break from beating on your own closed door. Give your fists a rest. Take a breath. Pause. Look for an open window. Come back next Tuesday as we look at Broken Doors.

“…knock and the door will be opened…” Matthew 7:7
-Dallas