One afternoon I invited my five-year-old Becca to visit my new office. Well, actually, it was my new office-cubicle. The room was located dead center of a three-story office building. There was a central hallway going down the center of the 3rd floor, with large rooms off to the left and right of the hallway.   As you walked into my room, there were two actual offices on the right and one in the back. On the left was an area with two cubicles. My little cube was the one closest to the door.

Becca walked in and made her little self at home. She climbed up into my chair and gave it a spin. I guess it passed the test because she did it a few more times until I gently said, “That’s enough, Honey.” She then methodically opened each desk drawer, most likely looking for treats that were most likely stashed somewhere inside. It’s funny, now that I think about it, my children checked my desk drawers for my stash until they were out of high school. They would probably do it now if given the opportunity. Anyway, when Becca was satisfied with her search, she looked around the room and said to me, “Where’s your window?” What a funny question, but so cute. Becca knew her mother well. She knew I loved the fresh air and sunshine, and apparently, I like lots and lots of windows. I explained to her there were no windows in my office. She didn’t seem very happy about it. So, Becca being Becca, she had a solution. She said, “Grandpa can make a window for you.” I had to explain to her that although Grandpa built houses, he couldn’t run around town putting windows in buildings that belonged to someone else. She was pretty sure this was an exception, but she accepted my answer and went on her merry way.

A few days later, when I picked Becca up after work, she told me she had a picture for me that she had made. This wasn’t unusual. Moms are the lucky recipients of all kinds of arts and crafts created at school. I miss all the beautiful artwork I proudly displayed on my fridge when my children were young. But this one was a little different. She handed me a beautiful picture and said, “Here. I made you a window for your office.” The image was exactly what you would expect to see if you were gazing out a window on a bright, sunny spring day.  It had a big tree, rolling hills, and of course, flowers.  There were a couple of puffy clouds in the blue sky with a bright, cheerful, yellow sunshine beaming down from the corner of the page.   Leave it to a five-year-old to come up with the perfect solution to my windowless office. When it seemed impossible for me to see the sunshine, my own little sunshine made it happen.   She brought the sun to me.  That picture was proudly displayed for years, in quite a few offices. Many asked about it, and the story of my inside window told many times.

Sometimes I forget to think outside the box, or the cubicle in this case. Our lives get crazy and confusing. Even as Christians, we often wonder what the heck God is doing and why whatever is happening in our lives is happening.  Sometimes we’ve created the circumstance. But for me, I get most frustrated when I don’t create a circumstance, but still, somehow, end up smack in the middle of somewhere or something unwanted.  What a great opportunity for God to show us who He is and how much He loves us. Just when we think there’s no solution, something happens beyond anything we could have imagined.  A friend of mine wrote a song a long time ago that said, “Whenever He closes a door, He opens a window.” So true. We cannot comprehend how big God is. In my case, when there was no window to the outside, He used a precious child to bring the outside in, just for me.

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Wishing you joy and peace,

Lorrie