1-23-22 Watch Out Please

Quote: “You want to come into my life, the door is open.  You want to get out of my life, the door is open.  Just one request…don’t stand at the door; you’re blocking the traffic.”

I have to admit, when I first read this quote I thought, wow, that’s rude!

Then I read it a few more times and couldn’t stop laughing!  This is an amazing quote and I can’t wait to dig into it a little bit deeper.  See, even though I’m only in my 40s, I have come to the conclusion that the only thing you can truly count on in life is that things are always going to be changing.

One minute you’ve got a great job, a great group of friends, a great church, a great family… and then BAM!  A death.  A sickness.  A friend becomes an enemy.  A pandemic drops out of the sky.  Things are always changing.  And we’ve got to figure out a way to go with the flow of this crazy thing called life.

I believe in having an open door policy with my life and I encourage you to do the same.  Let your guard down once in a while.  Send that text, set up that coffee date, put that event on your planner, sign up for that class, make that big move.  You never know what is on the other side of a shiny new door.  I have put my guard down and been burned badly.  It actually happens a lot.  But the blessing of a new job, a new friend, a new group – sometimes it ends up being a bigger blessing than the hurt the closed door caused.  But we’ve got to keep the door open now.  It could end up changing your life!

I also believe in allowing and accepting the fact that people are going to walk out the door.  Either I’m going to grow and change so much that we’re not compatible anymore or they are going to change and it’s going to feel different.  The same people in your inner circle right now are probably not going to be with you in the nursing home.  Look back at prom pictures and wedding parties – many people will come and go.  It’s okay!  Ebb and flow.  Sure, it’s going to hurt.  I’m nursing some wounds of some people that have walked out in my life recently and it stings.  But because I didn’t slam the door shut to prevent no one new to come in, I’ve allowed in some new faces, some new adventures, and some new possibilities.

I have to keep the door open!

But I love the tongue-in-cheek part of this quote best – um, please get out of the way if you leave.  You are blocking the blessing of someone new and amazing coming into my life.  Please step aside.

This reminds me so much of something that happened to Jesus one time.  Yes even Jesus had people walking out the door on him!  The full story is in Mark 6:1-11 but I will paraphrase it for you.  Jesus went to his hometown with his closest 12 friends, his disciples.  He started teaching and his relatives and friends basically said, “Um, isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t this the son of Mary?”  Like, who is he that thinks he has such authority?  And it says they took offense at him.  It says in verse 6 that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.  So he says a very tongue-in-cheek thing to the disciples in verse 11, “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust of your feet.” So the lesson here is be open.  Let them in.  And if they don’t accept you leave or let them leave.

And if you’re going to walk out of someone’s door, please move out of the way.  Because as you’re leaving, they are going to be busy shaking the dust off of their welcome mat to get ready for the next person who is coming to the door, the one who is ready to wipe their feet on the mat and come in to check it out.  Your loss can become their gain!

Remember, people come into our life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  We have to learn to be okay with the ones who end up being with us for just a reason or a season.  And then hold tight to those lifetimers – they are the absolute BEST!