project 365 Day 63: Scattered

Canon 5D Mark ll, 100mm macro 2.8, 2.8 aperture, 1/100 shutter, 250 ISO, flash bounced off ceiling in manual at 1/4 power.

Annie brought this puzzle home this weekend that Katie had given her for Christmas. She has been wanting to start it, and hasn’t had the time. When she poured out the pieces on the table, everyone immediately felt overwhelmed. There were so many pieces, and all so similar in color. Truthfully, the picture on the box was nowhere to be seen in the mess before us.  Johnny immediately gathered all the red pieces, leaving everyone else with the gray and black ones. Everyone looked at him with disdain.

Don’t we all want the colorful parts?

It seemed almost prophetic, as I looked all those fragments, colors running together, with no real distinction between them. I had texted Annie earlier in the day to tell her I was feeling a bit ” discombobulated” and wasn’t sure about dinner plans or anything, really. Now I feel like I am looking at a mirror image of myself all strewn out on the kitchen table. What is the picture supposed to be anyway? Sometimes it doesn’t look anything like I thought it would or should. Why are there so many gray pieces?

Later in conversation with Chris, I felt soothed talking about the grace of God. He doesn’t expect us to get it right all the time. In fact, He knows we cannot. He just loves us, and He knows what the picture is supposed to look like. I think He just enjoys the process of putting it together with us. Isn’t that the joy of a puzzle? Yes, there is a goal in mind, but don’t we do puzzles with others as an enjoyment of the passage of time together?

I think God is like that. He just wants to be with us, and help us put things together right. I can see Him smiling as we turn things this way and that trying to make things fit, and I can hear Him say, ” Try it this way”, giving us an altogether new perspective. He must laugh with joy as we see it all come together and clap our hands in victory. Yes, the blessing of the puzzle is in the process, and the company.

We are the brightly colored pieces, after all, and He has created us for His glory.

Isaiah 43:7~ “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”