then the heart is the doorway to that soul.  the difference? – with windows you are still on the outside looking in – you are an observer, not a participant, not a part of the person or their life.

but the door – the door gives you access – the door lets you in – the door gives you a place at the table – you can enter in through the door (only a thief enters in through a window)

my heart has become a revolving door – people enter my life and leave it at an alarming rate.  It makes my head spin, if not my heart.

I like the entering in part – there is always room for a new person who I haven’t met yet – whose story I haven’t heard – whose sorrows and joys I haven’t yet shared . . .

it’s the exiting part that is painful – so many things take people away – death, job change, moving far away, a change of heart (pun intended)

and people take so many things away with them when they go –  pieces of myself, that I have shared with them during our time together – confidences confessed, secrets shared, my affections bestowed without restraint – did they know how precious they were to me?  of what surpassing value their presence in my life?

these exits are usually without fanfare – no slamming doors – (can’t do that with a revolving door) – no doors shut – keeping people out – that’s the beauty of a revolving door – always open – able to let more people in – but also allowing them to exit at will

I guess if I shut the door no one could leave, (in theory anyway) but then no one could enter either.

it’s just a lot of wear and tear on my heart – people coming and going – in and out of my life – I get attached – I create a space for them – a place for them at the table – and then one day they aren’t there anymore – there’s an empty place at the table and an empty space in my heart – a space unique to them, that no one else can fill.

I can’t figure any way to stop this revolving door except to close it up – stop letting people in – let them look in through the windows but don’t let them enter in through the door – because the door to my heart is a revolving door and that means they might leave at any moment, without warning    . . .

but there is One who enters in and comes to stay –

“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching.  My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’ ”   (John 14:23)

“Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

Jesus has promised me His abiding presence with me, in me – to stay – forever.

“Now it is God who  . . .   set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”  (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

not only has He entered in – never to leave – but He allows me to reciprocally enter in to abide with Him  . . .

Jesus said, “I am the door; whoever enters through Me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”   (John 10:9)

sounds a little like a revolving door – but the going out isn’t a leaving of the abiding relationship the sheep has with the shepherd, or that we have with our Heavenly Father-

I have His invitation – “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you  . . . ”  (John 15:4)  and I have His promise – “Never will I leave you nor forsake you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”   ( Deuteronomy 31:6 & Matthew 28:20)

sincerely,        Grace Day