During the time I’ve been home due to the New Year’s break and then the storm days, I’ve done something I didn’t think I’d ever do again. I worked on a puzzle. Understand, I’ve got nothing against puzzles. It’s just that I haven’t done one in many years. In fact, the last time I worked on a puzzle was likely when I was in high school and we were all stuck at home because of a blizzard. Out of that experience I decided I just don’t have the patience for puzzles.
Then last year I was looking for a gift for Nancy, something she and I could do together some evening, and I found a murder mystery puzzle. There’s a story you read and then you assemble the puzzle. The catch is it’s a 1,000-piece puzzle and you don’t know what the picture will look like when assembled. And did I mention, it’s a 1,000-piece puzzle. For those of you who know puzzles, this isn’t a “do together some evening” project. This is a multiple evening/day event. Which, that in itself, is good. Togetherness, you know!!
However, working on this puzzle has reminded me of the patience one needs to do puzzles. It seems puzzles don’t put themselves together and it takes time…lots of time! The other thing I’ve learned is that you’d think with all the pieces to the puzzle right there on the table, it would be easy to put puzzles together. Yet, each piece is a bit different and unique. Yet sometimes they all seem to blend together. You just have to keep trying to fit things together.
In fact, what I’ve noticed is that the harder I look for a specific piece, the more difficult it becomes to find. What Nancy and I have both noticed is that after not working on the puzzle for a while, when coming back to it, it seems that a puzzle piece stands out and we are able to fit it into place. Of course, then we get focused on that section, looking for more pieces…but once again, the desired piece doesn’t seem to be present.
As I think about this puzzle project…that is still ongoing, it reminds me of some truths I need to remember as I approach the year that is before me…before all of us. Sometimes I try to force all the pieces of the new year into the pattern I want them to be. I think things should fit together just so…but then get frustrated when they don’t. Rather, I need to accept the pieces as they are, see each piece for what it is, and then figure out the way that they fit together the best to form the picture that is being created.
As I think about the year that is before me, I do have some hopes, dreams, and goals that I’m working on and aiming for. But I’m also trying to be aware that I can’t force the pieces to fit into the place I think they should be or want them to be. Sometimes the fit isn’t right. Working on this puzzle has reminded me that sometimes I need to step back, view the bigger picture that is being created, and then see what pieces pop out to me. Those “pieces” that seem to pop out at me are the places it is likely that God is at work in my life, one way or another. My hope is that 11 1/2 months from now I’ll be able to look back on the picture of 2023 and see the masterpiece that God and I have created together. And I’m sure it will look different than I had thought it would. Even then, at the end of 2023, the masterpiece of my life will not be complete (meaning I’ll still be living) because God will still be working on me…and God will still be working on you too!!
May we all see the various puzzle pieces of our lives for the year to come as possibilities and potential for who we are becoming, as God works with us. Happy New Year, everyone!!! Keep on working the puzzle of life.
Pastor Keith