I just finished a 1000-piece puzzle. It was on my Vacation To-Do List. I love doing puzzles. They remind me of my mother. A lot of things remind me of my mother. Since this weekend celebrates mothers, it is good to be reminded of how fortunate I was that God assigned Kit to be my mother.

Strangely, we didn’t do a lot of puzzles as children. Too many little pieces and too many little kids could have been the reason. However, I became my mother’s temporary only child when I moved to Florida in the early 2000’s and then, we did puzzles.

I can still see Mom examining the puzzle pieces. She would turn each piece one way and then the other. Looking for subtle differences in color and shape. Searching for just the right piece for the area of the puzzle she was working on.

I am not that patience. I look for all the bright colors and pile them together. I work on one section at a time and when I can’t discern any differences in the pieces, I sort them by shape. I have even given them names, like “dancing man”, “fences” and “four arms.”
Mom always had a card table set up with a puzzle in the works. I can’t stand to have something sitting around unfinished, so when I work on a puzzle, it becomes almost an obsession. Lazy vacations provide plenty of time to work on puzzles.

Working on puzzles also reminds of the Great Puzzler. Who? You ask. Why our gracious Heavenly Father and Creator, of course! What a puzzle He developed when he designed and set in motion our world and universes. I try to think about what went into the divine plan, but I am overwhelmed with all the details and different directions that creation has taken. I ask for the serenity to accept the things that I cannot understand. I ask for the grace to accept the love given by the Creator without questioning.

Then, the pieces fall into place. I am convinced without a doubt that God loves you (and me) unconditionally.

Terri

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28 | NIV