Long before I started kindergarten, I was working picture puzzles. How fast could I put one together? As I became familiar with the pieces and the picture, I could work the same puzzle faster and faster.“These are too easy,” I said. So Daddy got one with a hundred pieces. Before long, I graduated to 250 pieces, then 500. I developed a love for figuring things out, how to match color and shape.
I’ve never lost my love for working puzzles, but it’s now much like fishing. I love to do it, but I seldom have the time. This explains why I like the Christmas season so much. During the break from school, I and the kids make time to work puzzles.
Sometimes the color and shape seems right, but when the other pieces won’t fit with it, I eventually figure out that I have it in the wrong place. Others look like they ought to fit, but they obviously don’t. That’s when I use my favorite expression: “I need a bigger hammer.”
I’m learning that life can be like a picture puzzle. What seems to fit doesn’t actually fit, and my attempt to force the fit makes it impossible to get the picture right. That’s why, like looking at the picture on the box, I need the Holy Spirit to guide me, to show me what fits where.