During the time I lived with and cared for mom and dad, we would pass the time doing puzzles. My dad enjoyed puzzles so much that he would do the same ones over and over. That got old, so when it was time to replenish our puzzle inventory, I would get on the computer and show him Amazon. I would search for his favorite brand of puzzles and only the 750-piece puzzles or less, nothing too big, plus we didn’t have the space for anything bigger. He would make his selections and would always be amazed at how fast it would arrive. I knew I had created a monster after showing him Amazon. From that point on, for his birthday, Christmas, or Father’s Day, I would tell my siblings to get him puzzles. Every time we completed a puzzle, he would say, ” Save it in the vault.” That meant for me to take a picture of it.
After he passed 3 years ago, I had no desire to look at a puzzle, much less do one. It was maybe a few months ago that I had picked up a few puzzles from the Dollar store, thinking maybe I would do them. I picked the smaller one of 100 pieces just to try it. I did it and saved it in the vault, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t until last night, after I had a bad day and was struggling physically from the after effects of a stressful situation earlier in the day, that I thought I should try to do another one and it’s a 350-piece puzzle. As I was gathering the border pieces, I got to a point where I hit a wall. Something wasn’t looking right in one section of the border, and I had used all the border pieces I could find with the same design. I was searching through all the pieces, thinking maybe I was overlooking some. I was getting more and more frustrated, hoping that I didn’t lose a piece somehow.
I could hear my dad telling me to use a flashlight or a magnifying glass (which is what we would do) to look over the pieces to make sure they actually go together. So I used the flashlight on my phone, combing over the part of the border that wasn’t meshing right. My dad had the patience for doing this, and it usually paid off, so I had to do it too. I can’t tell you how long I did this, and I would step back and look at it, but it seemed like over an hour. Until finally, I’m again looking over the picture on the box, and something gets my attention, and sure enough, I had quite a few pieces in the wrong spot. It’s like my dad was guiding me.
As you can see, I’m just starting out on this puzzle and still have pieces to put together. It reminds me of the pieces and parts of my life. More often than not, it can look like a pile of crap, and it doesn’t make any sense. How do I put the jigsaw puzzle of my life together? Why isn’t it meshing right? Why do I feel like I’m missing some pieces? Just like last night, when I could hear my dad guiding me along, I also have Jesus’ voice that I need to be open to listening to know what to do next. Only He knows how all these pieces and parts come together.
I can’t wait to save this in the vault.
The World of Dlo 