Chapter Twenty-Three:

Pulling Doors

            "And just what do you think you're doing out of bed?" Jamie inquired as she caught me walking down the staircase.  "I was just going to bring you up some soup."

            "It's Tuesday.  I have youth group in a few hours.  Besides, I've been in bed for two days…  Come on Nurse Carter, have some leniency on me."  I winked, hoping she'd somehow take pity on me.  Ever since I came down with a cold over the weekend, Jamie had relished the opportunity to take care of me.  While I had sincerely appreciated it, I was feeling much better.  My sore throat was gone, and with the slight exception of the vice that still seemed to be clamped on my head, I felt pretty good.

            She walked up to me, placing her hand on my forehead.  "You still feel a bit warm… but as long as you're down here, you might as well eat your lunch."

            Grinning in victory, I took my seat at the counter and slowly blew the steam from the chicken noodle soup.

            "Don't get to comfortable, because as soon as you're finished you're heading back to bed."

            True to her word, it wasn't long before I was being led back upstairs.  "What about the kids?  I can't let them down."

            "They've had you for four weeks.  They'll just have deal with me this week.  You wouldn't want to possibly expose them to a cold would you?"

            "My goodness she's persistent," I mused.  "I feel much better.  Besides, you should be the one that's resting – not me."

            "I'm fine.  I've had an extra burst of energy today."  She pulled the covers up around me.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a lesson to plan."

            "You're stealing all my fun."

            "Yep, I'm a regular thief, Landon.  Now get some rest.  I'm sure the police department in your dreams would be more than willing to take a full report."  With that she closed the door.

            "Not funny!" I called after her, hoping she was still within hearing distance.  "Oww… that was not wise."  The throbbing in my head increasing in intensity, I laid back, allowing myself to drift in and out through the rest of the afternoon.

            I woke up later that evening to the sound of laughter filtering upstairs from the living room.  "I wonder what she decided to talk about…"  My curiosity quickly got the best of me.  I crept out of the bed room and positioned myself right besides the staircase, struggling to hear what was going on.

            It was Jamie's voice that I made out.  "A concerned man visited a psychiatrist, explaining that he had been having a recurring dream.  In it, he was standing at a large door with a sign on it.  No matter how hard he struggled to push the door, it wouldn't budge.  He would wake up and be unable to get back to sleep, too worried that the door would never open for him.  After he begged for help, the psychiatrist said that she would try her best, but that first she would need to know what the sign on the door had said.  Sitting back in his seat, the man thought for a minute, before recalling the sign had said 'Pull.'"

            I tried to control myself – oh did I try – but I just couldn't manage to keep from laughing along with the others.

            The living room suddenly grew silent.  "Oh no… I've been caught."  It didn't take long for my suspicions to be confirmed. 

            In unison, I heard the whole group call up to me, "Get some rest!" before bursting into laughter.

            As I trudged to the bedroom defeated, I smiled, overhearing Jamie continuing her lesson, "We all have these doors in our lives that are holding us back from where we need to be, but we need to learn to trust that God will provide us with the instructions on how to open them if we keep our hearts open…"

"What have been some of my doors?"  I wracked my brain.  "Well… there was my pride, for starters.  I was so sure I could handle my life on my own, almost ruining it in the process… but You definitely did send instructions…"

            Settled back in bed a while later with my hands resting beneath my head, I fought off the boredom by inspecting the plastered ceiling that I had never really paid attention to before.  The overall pattern resembled a sea of waves crashing upon the shoreline.  "All that's missing are the seagulls… Oh wait… there's one…"

            "Are the mountains on your ceiling really that interesting?"

            "They're waves," I corrected, as I turned my head toward the voice.  "Rach, you came."  Over the past four weeks, I had hoped she would show, only to be disappointed when the evenings came to a close.

            "Yeah, finally," she sighed with a slight smile.  "It took a little pushing, but I'm here."

            "What do you mean?"

            "Oh, you know… the 'flunked a major math test, needed to talk to someone, Mom was off running who knows where, Dad was at work, friends were far too consumed with their own lives'… that kind of pushing." 

            I failed to grasp what she was getting at.

            She laughed.  "You did tell me that God was the only one who was always there for us.  It just took an instance where nobody else was there to prove it to me."

            "Thank you."  I grinned.  "What did you talk about tonight?"

            "Trusting God for direction, then Michael and I taught Jamie a thing or two about trust falls."  She said it so casually.

            I sat up straight in bed, my head soon regretting the hasty move.  "You didn't!"

            "Rachel it's time to go.  You've got some studying to do and I have a telephone message from your math teacher to attest to it!"  Mrs. Hunter's voice had no problem reaching us upstairs.

            "Coming!" Rach yelled down the hall before turning around to face me.  "I guess Mom's going to be there now.  Oh… and relax, Snoop, I was teasing about the whole 'trust fall' thing.  See you next week." 

            An hour passed before Jamie joined me up in the bedroom, I assumed after finishing tidying up after everyone had left.  She walked in silently, gently sitting down at the head of the bed.  Glancing up at her, I was surprised to see her face faintly flushed, looking quite apprehensive.

            "Oh no," I groaned.  "You're getting my cold, aren't you?  I'm so sorry."

            She forced a slight grin.  "No, I'm not getting your cold… but I think I will need a doctor."  Her speech was tainted with pain.

            "No…" I tried to convince myself as I sat up.  "You're not due for another three weeks.  No…"

            "Landon, my water broke while I was downstairs."

            I tried to remain calm, but it was of little use.  "But you haven't even packed your bag yet!"

            "I know, but you can grab a couple quick things for me… It's not like we have a lot of say in this."  Her composed demeanor was amazingly comforting.

            "Ok, Lord…You're going to have to guide me here…"

            A few minutes later, pulling the front door open, we left the house, realizing that change was waiting for us on the other side.