I’ve heard it said that when God closes one door, He opens another.
Or He opens a window…
Or it wasn’t your door…
Or any number of other things.
I’ve said this before (usually after the other door or window becomes apparent). In fact, I said it to someone yesterday.
However, after I said it, and thought about it for a while, I realized there is a fundamental problem with the saying. It assumes God is responsible for the closed door. And even though I have a deep faith, I don’t believe that.
Regardless of one’s faith, or lack thereof, I think most people believe humans have free will. We all make our own choices every day. Over a lifetime we make millions of them. It is our choices combined with those of others in our lives, that close and open doors. Note, this isn’t saying we are completely responsible for all situations in which we find ourselves. In fact we could have made a series of perfect decisions–things that we don’t regret and wouldn’t change, but we are still unable to control the response of others.
I like the following similar quote, attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, a bit more.
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
This still acknowledges that we have choices. We can lament what is gone, or look for the opportunities that may arise because of the closed door. That doesn’t mean that the closed door is any less painful–or for that matter, fair. But each of us must decide what we do with it.
Occasionally, after we go through the new door, we realize that the old door shutting was an incredible blessing.
Ceci Giltenan, Author 
beautifully stated!
denise
Thank you. ❤
I agree with your open/closed door policy.
I can always count on you!
Hi, I love the sound of your books. I was wondering what they are rated. Thank you for your time!
I’m not sure what you are asking. Are you wondering about review ratings? You can see them on Amazon, but most of my reviews are 4 or 5 stars.
Warmest regards,
Ceci
Hi, thank you for responding. I wanted to know if they are rated PG/clean romances or if they are R rated. I prefer to read PG/clean and wish books would have a rating system such as movies do. Thank you for your time.
I have very little explicit content in any of my books. However, I’ve learned that clean is in the eyes of the beholder, so here is the breakdown. Where there is sex in my Scottish Historical romances, it is very basic and between married adults because sex is part of marriage. Thus, how many scenes there are depends on when the wedding is.
The heroes and heroines in the Duncurra series (Highland Solution, Highland Courage and Highland Intrigue) are married at the start of the books, so these book contain a small amount (3 or 4 scenes at most) of married sex that I would rate as PG-13. However, these three book are also available in “Inspirational Versions” from which all intimate contact has been removed.
The wedding in Highland Revenge is in the middle. There is one brief wedding night scene. PG-13
The wedding in Highland Echoes occurs in the last quarter of the book and there is one brief wedding night scene. PG-13
The wedding in Highland Angels is at the end and the wedding night description is not remotely explicit. PG
The wedding nights in Highland Redemption and A Wee Highland Predicament are in the last quarter of the book and not really explicit. Each book contains one brief scene. PG
In the Pocket Watch Chronicles, the breakdown is as follows:
The Pocket Watch – no explicit scenes PG
The Midwife – one mild wedding night scene PG-13
Once Found – mostly takes place in the present so while the couple aren’t married until the end, there are several love scenes that are a little steamy. Still they are short and can be easily skimmed over or skipped. I never use the “F” word in historical romances but it does appear in this book as an expletive. I hesitate to rate the book as R but it would be between PG-13 and R
The Christmas Present – features a married couple in their 50’s learning to deal with an empty nest. There is one brief love scene. PG-13
The Choice – contains two full-length novels, one in the past (Nothing to Lose) and one in the present (What if I Fall). There is at least once intimate scene in Nothing to Lose and the couple is not married yet (PG-13). Again, because What if I Fall takes place in the present there are a few more scenes and the couple is not married yet. Because the sex scenes are brief I hesitate to rate it as R. However, there is some content (associated with the villains) that is a little more raw. There is also more language in this one. As I said, I never use the “F” word in historical romances but it does appear in this book–again most often associated with the villains. Therefore this book is the one that comes closest to R. Still, the percentage of intimate content is still very low and can be skimmed or skipped.
The Gift – contains one intimate wedding night scene near the end. This one is PG-13.
I hope this helps.
Warmest regards,
Ceci
THANK YOU! This is exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. 😊
You are very welcome.
Ceci