Standing In The Doorway

I experienced a sweet moment this week from an unexpected place — standing in the doorway to my mother’s bedroom.  She had to look for something;  I followed her, then stood waiting in the doorway.  As I waited I put my hands on the inside of the door frame.  That’s when it happened — a sweet, unexpected moment of remembrance.

Years ago, when my parents had moved to the house, the living room and dining room were arranged as an open plan.  Desiring to close off the dining room to make another bedroom, my father closed in the wall and put in a door.  On either side of the door he made a column of glass shelves.  My mother displays her assortment of curios from around the world on these shelves.

I had watched my father build this doorway.  I remember how he measured and cut the wood.  With special tools, he etched designs in the columns to match on both sides.  When he was finished, it was a beauty to behold.

Over the years, I’ve passed through this doorway many times.  Sometimes I have thought of how it was made and of who made it, but not very often.  Then, this week, when my own hands felt the wood, traced the carved designs with my fingertips, and touched the glass shelves, the memory of it all came flooding in.  In my mind’s eye, I could see my father working.  I could see the joy he took in his own labors — his labors of love to make his wife a doorway to be proud of, and to enjoy for a long time.

As I stood contemplating and remembering, my thoughts took on a new direction; I thought of my Heavenly Father and His creation — His labor of love for you and me to enjoy for a long time.  Over the years I have been aware of the sun rising, the moon appearing at night, patterns of stars strewn across black, velvet sky, autumn leaves that crunch beneath my feet, summer winds kissing my cheeks with warmth.  I am aware of cattle in fields, the excitement of horses running wild and free, roosters announcing the arrival of a new day — a day to enjoy more of Father’s creation — but how often do I think about who made this day for me to enjoy?

As David wrote in Psalm 8:3-9, my own heart fills with wonder, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon ad stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority — the flocks and the herds, and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.  O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”

In the busyness of our days, let us take time to enjoy all that God made for us.  Oh, how He loves what He has created — Oh, how He loves you and me.