Doors.

They tell us that when one door closes another will open. Simple, right? Well, I've learned a few things about 'doors' in the past few months and let me tell you, my friend, it is anything but simplicity. A few details 'they' forgot to mention about said doors:
1) When a door closes it is hard. (Especially if you are running at top speed towards it, fully expecting it to swing wide and end up running face first into that very well constructed and definitely-still-closed door. Ice pack, anyone?)
2) When one door closes you might have to wait awhile for another to open. And that in between part... yep, it might be extremely hard.
3) When the next door does, indeed, open... you may not realize it. Or you may be in denial! Either way, it won't necessarily have butterflies and rainbows shooting out of it. Walking through that open door may also be, you guessed it, hard.

Glad I got that off my chest. See, we have been dealing with a lot of closed doors the past few months. And yes, I did receive more than one 'bloody nose' from stubbornly running straight into these doors with the assumption that they would eventually open.
Our 'Hawaii journey' has been one example of God's providence after the next. We have transitioned from one home to the next, one opportunity to the next and one miracle to the next, with an unbelievable amount of ease. It has been so obvious that this is where God wants us and that He is making a way. He is our provider; He is Jehovah Jireh.
But in the past few months God started revealing something new to us. Of course, we didn't realize it at first. Doors started closing on this end and we took it in stride, confident that He would open a new one. Then they kept closing and, with no open ones in sight, we started wondering just how long we would need to spend in the in-between. (As mentioned in a previous post, it is my least favorite place to hang out!) And then, at long last, we realized the open doors for what they were and.... we chose to continue biding our time in the in-between because SURELY, God didn't actually mean for us to walk through that door??! See, I wasn't kidding about the denial part.

But enough beating around the bushes (or palm trees, in this case!) Our Hawaii journey is coming to an end, my friends. No more living vicariously through my tropical pictures and posts! We are heading back to the mainland and a new chapter is beginning. And now that we have opened our hearts to this 'something new' we are absolutely astonished at the ways God has orchestrated the transition. This is hard, I suspect that change always is (especially when it includes leaving friendships that are absolutely irreplaceable and a group of people that have truly become our family), but it can also be excellent.
'See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.' Isaiah 43:19
One of the 'nuggets' that has stayed with me since Derek and I studied in YWAM is the 'open-hand policy'. This is the idea that if we hold tight to something, it is going to be very painful if/when God takes that thing away. If our hands are in the open position, however; palms up and fingers extended, it is so much simpler for things to be removed from our grasp. When God takes things out of our life it is usually because He is going to replace it with something else. But just like a toddler with grubby fingers wrapped tightly around an empty cup, we do not realize our Father's intentions to FILL UP THE CUP and we throw a fit. Solely focused on what is being 'taken away' we are not aware of what is about to be given to us!
Open hands, my friends. Open hands, Bethel.
'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.' Ephesians 3:20

C.S Lewis said, "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." And it is hard to fathom any experiences surpassing the wonderful 3.5 years we have spent on this island. But God has a way of exceeding expectations every time. Not only is He able to go above and beyond anything we ask of Him; Paul tells the Ephesian church (and us!) that our God is able to do 'immeasurably more' than we could ever conjure up in our wildest dreams. Our imaginations can not grasp all that He has in store!
And, of course, I believe Mr. Lewis was speaking of our eternal destination and not just the body of land we currently reside in. Derek reminded me of this as he prayed the other day, saying, 'God, we have no question of where we will spend eternity. We are simply searching for our next temporary dwelling. And we trust You completely.' This world is not our home. We are just passing through!
So this chapter comes to a close and, with open hands, we turn the first page of a brand new one! Our bags are packed and all our worldly possessions are floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! It's not that the next season need 'top' this last one. But rather, we acknowledge that when we trust Jesus and journey with Him, He will continually lead us forward into greater things which He has been orchestrating since the beginning of time. And yes, goodbyes on this end will be heart breaking. But having confidence in God's purposes for us on the other side (and a whole heap of family members waiting to hug us and get to know our boys!) makes for bittersweet tears as we step through the new door that God has opened.