I’ve always liked puzzles.
The way the curved and arched edges
fit together smoothly in a perfect unity,
like two hands interlacing their fingers.
Language is like a puzzle.
The way the sounds interact,
fitting together just right
to create a big picture
that you can’t see until you find the right pieces.
Sometimes the morphemes change,
just to confused you,
like a ragged edge that should fit someone else
but doesn’t quite.
Once the puzzle is together you can step back
and admire the beauty of God’s handiwork,
until you notice a piece missing
or a child stumbles over and knocks the edge apart.
Then you just smile
and go back to work,
appreciating the beauty of change
and the stimulation of challenge.
My life is like a puzzle.
All lives are, really.
All lives are part of a bigger puzzle,
Yahweh’s puzzle of Creation,
but each piece is a puzzle in itself.
As I’ve grown I have seen the pieces
from my childhood slowly fit together
with new pieces.
It is exhilarating.
Knowing that God designed each piece
knowing just where he would place it
before it even existed.
Each piece is a new journey
that I have seen fit in to my life
in harmony with the rest of my puzzle.
But now I see two puzzles.
One puzzle is my life,
full of my experiences,
joys, trials, and dreams.
This one I have always watched
and seen God leading me through it.
But the other one is me,
my character, identity, and personality.
This one is more pointy,
not as gently curved as the first.
There is pain where each piece meets the next,
but the pieces fit together just the same.
This puzzle is in the dark,
not as clearly illuminated –
there is only one lamp on the table.
I sometimes wonder
who is building this puzzle.
Is it God?
or me? or sin?
But God is the puzzle maker.
I do not know where the puzzles come together.
I can only trust that they do.
Though the designs are so different,
maybe the one
just has not come into the light.
It may be
that one day I will find
the second puzzle has not been flipped over.
And when it is,
it will fit right in
with a satisfying thunk
and complete the foundation
of my puzzle.
