Never have I been one to sit and work on a puzzle for long. Any of the good ones can take days.. maybe even weeks to complete. I have watched progress of them as family or friends work on them and perhaps I may have found a corner piece or a few edges for them as I pass by the table. I just couldn't slow myself down for long enough to focus on the task and enjoy the process of it. I have started them on my own before, but really, I can't recall finishing one. I get to a hard piece and I get frustrated or bored and just ... well, I give up. When I would watch the people I know working on their own puzzles they wouldn't look the way I pictured myself looking when I sat down to one. I'd be scratching my head and sighing and squirming in my seat. Never noticing that as they might have approached me to assist, I would push them away. "I don't need help!! I can do this on my own" So, they would leave me with all my pieces. And soon, I would get up and find a different distraction.
The thing is, I wasn't seeing at all what the point of it was. That one piece I set in for them on their puzzle and the four they had help with from another friend. And, the hour that their mom stopped by and chatted with them as they worked on it. Those were the hardest parts for them. I didn't see their trouble because they didn't turn down help. They enjoyed having the extra hands to see them through the edges they just could find and the seemingly millions of trees all the same exact size and color and shape. I kept seeing someone accepting help as a weakness. Really, this ability to see when you are in need of help is a strength.
Each piece of the puzzle is equally important. You can not have a beautiful picture to look back at if even a single one is missing. Each day we are given is also equally important and they all add in this journey we live that will lead to our final, beautiful, amazing picture. The easy, the impossible... the everything. Finding peace with our challenges comes with knowing that God is shaping us into exactly what we need to be. Some of these "piece" making days can be incredibly difficult. Some of them can be so easy we don't even realize what amazing work God is doing in our lives. Finding Peace of mind in our day to day puzzles is knowing that he didn't leave us here to go through it alone. He sends us helpers at every turn. As I do with most things, I learned this the hard way.
I'm not so afraid of puzzles anymore. I just might take one on our next camping trip.
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