This past weekend I luxuriously spent one morning in my robe, drinking coffee, and putting together a Christmas puzzle with my girls. We broke open the box and spread all the pieces out on the table.
I became overwhelmed with gratitude for this moment. To be able to spend time with my daughters, doing something I love without the cloud of illness hanging over my head was wonderful. Just a few short months ago I could only dream of moments like this.
We began working the puzzle, and I was also struck by the symbolism of those 500 random pieces staring back at me. How similar our lives are to this table full of pieces.
Each one reminded me of a chapter in my life. Some of those chapters were brightly colored and full of joy like the smile on the little girl’s face in the picture. Then some of those chapters were dark and difficult to identify like the blackness of the night sky at the top of the wintery scene.
And yet, each piece eventually fit perfectly together to create a gorgeous story.
When the “puzzle” of our life is completed someday and the whole picture is revealed, there will still be visible cracks between all of the pieces. I think these “cracks” are a good reminder of our imperfections and how we are all broken and in process.
God loves you despite your faults and failures. Christmas is a perfect time of year to be reminded of that.
1 John 4:9-10 says, “This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved US and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
I can look back at my life thus far and see all of those pieces. I am able to see how those pieces are creating my story. We all have happy seasons and dark ones. But, without that variety our picture wouldn’t have the depth and interest that I believe God desires for all of us to experience.
So here’s to the lifelong process of completing the puzzle of my life, good times and bad, yet all the while knowing that God loves me and is creating a beautiful picture that only our Creator can.
