Does God Close Doors and Open Windows, or Do We?

I'm not sure why, but I love doing Q & A. People have such fascinating questions, and my brain pops and sizzles when I consider how to answer them. Questions always lead me on journeys of discovery. It's always questions, rather than answers, that make me feel alive and awake.The good people at Patheos asked me quite a few questions about Beginnings, and they posted my answers on their book club site. I've included one of them below, and you can click the link that follows it to read the rest of my Q & A there, along with an original essay and some other fun stuff about Beginnings.

The subject of your book brings to mind the oft-quoted phrase: When God closes one door, he opens another. How does your book resonate with, and add to, that proverbial wisdom? Well, honestly, I tend to reject pithy little statements like that about God (insert broad smile). I don’t think anything is that simple. When a window closes, did God close it, or did I just mess it all up? When a door opens, did God open it or did I force it open? And of course, the answer to all of those questions is… yes (insert another broad smile). This book essentially says that God is always making all things new, always creating new beginnings, even out of disastrous endings, no matter whose fault it was or how bad we messed it up. God is always inviting us to be partners in all of those new beginnings; we become partners simply by showing up and saying yes and being who we actually are. So in that sense, I would say that God is always flinging doors and windows wide open, hoping we’ll fly through them with joy and hope and trust.Click here to read the rest of the Q & A.In it together, friends!