One of favorite activities is doing puzzles. These include jigsaw puzzles. As a child, I received puzzles that had a board on which could see the pattern and place the pieces on. As I got older, I graduated to board-less puzzles. I enjoy 500 piece, and even 1000 piece puzzles. My older seems to have inherited this "gift" from me, as she's already pretty good at them.
Toward the end of my mother's life, as she was struggling with Alzheimers, she would do word search puzzles, as well as fill in number ones. These apparently help stimulate the memory. Somehow we ended up with one of her number search books. While waiting around at different events this past week, I've enjoyed doing the number search, as it stimulates the math and logic side of me.
I definitely have a systematic way of doing number and jigsaw puzzles. With jigsaws, this involves turning over all the pieces, then doing the border first, then working my way toward the middle. With numbers, its filling in the easiest numbers. By doing what is easiest and most obvious first, this sets a pattern, as well as rules out possible options for some of the pieces. Once a piece or number is in place, it opens up the door for what becomes more obvious pieces or numbers. However, without doing what was easiest, the next step would not ahve opened up. As the process goes on, it gets easier to fill in the rest.
I get a lot of joy and refreshment from doing puzzles. There is much satisfaction after all the numbers are filled in or all the pieces fit together and one can see how the whole thing makes sense when all the pieces are in the right place.
While doing a number puzzle today, I had an "a-ha" moment of spiritual revelation. God seemed to say that trying to follow him is like doing a puzzle. It is good to have a "vision" of what needs to happen and what I want to see accomplished in different venues. However, how to get there often entails the act of trying to see what has been easily given and putting those pieces in place. I think this is why God just doesn't go and automatically do what He wants done. He wants to give us the joy of being part of solving puzzles and going through the process.
Certainly some of the puzzles that I've done are harder than others. Getting going can take longer for some than for others. The graduation to harder puzzles is part of learning and growing.
For me, it was a reminder to relax a little more and enjoy the process. I've a future-oriented person by nature and can have a sense of drivenness to get there. This leads to impatience with those whom I feel just don't get how to get with the process of moving toward the goal. Certainly there is the need for earnestness and perseverance. But there is also the trust in God to provide the information and steps necessary to go about the puzzle solving process. There should be the joy in the journey as well, particularly as this is what bears the fragrance of Jesus to a world that needs it.
This week has been a week of trying to do some of the "easy" steps. For example, on Tuesday I was able to get off an initial letter to the administration requesting information on a residence card here. In many ways, having this card would simplify our lives and stay here. I've already been working on getting some of the future steps for this lined up. However, we needed to get this letter off. Our colleague Pierre helped in ways way beyond what I expected here, as he formulated a letter that sounded really French.
Yesterday we went to our consulate to renew my older daughter's passport, which had expired. For us to do our June trip, she'll need a new passport. It wasn't really anything flashy, but something that we needed to do.
This morning I spent an hour cleaning out the pipes in our kitchen sink. We do lots of entertaining, including 4 old and new friends this past Monday night for crêpes. The left sink kept backing up because of a really clogged pipe, while the right one wasn't much better. After I cleaned out all the gunk, the water flowed much faster. Again, this was nothing flashy, but will help us in our entertainment ministry.
It was actually relieving to me to understand following God to be like doing a puzzle. It's encouraging to remember that He'll provide the right pieces at the right time. When a door closes, then that's ok, as there are other ones to follow.
As we organize this summer's HMA, we trust God to help provide the way.
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