Fitting the Pieces
Together
Do any of you like to working on
puzzles? The challenge with puzzles is finding the right piece for the right
place. A few weeks ago while staying in Bentol, Neda
and I put together a jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle
came in a box that included 10 puzzles. Thankfully, the puzzles were all in separate packages. I brought the box of puzzles with me to
Liberia, but never opened the box because I thought all the puzzle pieces were
loose in the box. I had made up my mind
not to even open the box because the task of sorting and making sense of all
those pieces would be too much for me. You can imagine how delighted I was when we
opened the box and saw all those individually packaged puzzles, ranging in size
from 300 to 1000 pieces.
Just so we would not get discouraged
and quit, we chose the 300 piece puzzle with which to begin. We placed a small table near a window where
we could have the best lighting (no electricity) and set to work. First, we turned all the pieces over so the picture
side was facing up. Then we searched for
the straight edge pieces that constitute the frame of the puzzle.
The puzzle was of two tan puppies
surrounded by various shades of trees and sky.
Framing the puzzle was the easiest part.
After all, there are only so many straight edge pieces! Then, we began the task of looking at the
rest of the pieces, trying to match color schemes and shapes of puzzle pieces. We
wanted to be able to get all those pieces where they were meant to be so that
the finished product would match the picture on the box.
We didn't go about putting the
puzzle together using the same thought process.
Neda’s MO (method of operation) was working along the puzzle frame, carefully
filling in pieces. My MO was to find a
group of puzzle pieces that looked similar and start putting random pieces
together until there was a big enough section to place inside the sparsely
completed puzzle, locating the general area where that section might fit. For me, the excitement was in connecting my
section to what Neda was working on. For
Neda, it was watching the puzzle ‘take shape’ keeping connected to the
frame. Together, using our individual
style, we eventually found where all the pieces fit. We were so excited to see the picture coming
together and even more excited when we finally had all the pieces in
place. It was a wonderful sense of
accomplishment and we shared great moments of faith and friendship in the
process.
In many ways, life is a lot like
that puzzle. We have all been created by
a wonderful, awesome, loving God. The
Psalmist, David, expresses it so well in Psalm 139:14-16 (NIV)
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the
secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes
saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”
And our life is so much more than just
a scattering of random pieces (although it may seem that way sometimes).
God’s Word has so much to teach
us about how we should live and guides us in the choices we make. God guides us, but also allows us freedom to
choose when and how the ‘pieces’ are joined together. The
world constantly bombards us with puzzle pieces that aren't appropriate or
godly – trying to persuade us that the pieces the world offers will fit
perfectly into our life. We often
believe that lie and try so hard to make those distorted, damaging pieces fit only
to end up disappointed, discouraged, and disillusioned.
I am reminded of two stories in Scripture. The first is found in the first three Gospels
(Matt 19; Mark 10; Luke 18). It’s the
story of an obviously well-to-do young man who just about everything money
could buy, but still had a longing in his life that was never fully satisfied even
with all his wealth and education. He
came to Jesus wanting to see if there was a way to piece together what he
already had and who he already was and fit into the promise of eternal
life. He was so close to putting in
place that one missing piece. But, when
Jesus told him to sell what he had and give it to the poor, he couldn't let
go. You see, he had fit together the
puzzle of his life to conform to the pattern of the world. He wanted the assurance of eternal life but
also wanted to hold on to all the pieces he’d so carefully placed in the puzzle
of his life. Jesus told him that the
missing piece he was looking for would require some serious rearranging (and
letting go) of puzzle pieces that had shaped his life thus far. It wasn't that
there was anything wrong with any of the pieces. It’s just that somewhere along the way, his
possessions began to possess him. Some
of the pieces had taken on colors and shapes that wouldn't match up with what
Christ had declared were necessary. I
wonder how the story ended for him. Did
he ever grow weary of having all the world could offer and still have an
insatiable longing for ‘more’? Did he
finally get rid of the pieces that possessed him?
I am also reminded of the story of a
Samaritan woman in John, chapter four. Here
was a woman whose life was a jumble of pieces from several puzzles. She’d tried to satisfy the longings of her
heart with relationships that were inappropriate and she ended up ostracized
from society. She chose to draw water
from the well in the heat of the day, maybe to avoid criticism and stares from
the women who gathered in the cool of the morning and evening to draw
water. Her life may have been a mess,
but her heart was still searching for Someone to make the pieces of her life
fit together. In this story, Jesus
offers her water that will satisfy her thirst, so she wouldn't have to keep drinking
from a well that could never quench her thirst.
In other words, He was saying that if she would start drinking and keep drinking from the well of
eternal life found in Christ, her thirst
for meaning and purpose in life and relationships would be forever
satisfied. She could finally let go of
the puzzle pieces that didn't belong. In
Christ, the Messiah, she would start to
see the beautiful pattern God intended for her. Where she could only see the scattered, broken
pieces of her life, Christ could see a person of worth and value.
Some photos and notes of events from April/May (up to today)
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| Preaching at Sinkor Corps at their Mother's Day Program (May 18, 2014) |
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| Bentol City Farmers Market Local Produce bought and sold Also, ladies starting a new venture of processing and packaging cassava leaf, fever leaf, cassava root, palm butter and other items to sell in a local supermarket. Pray for this new endeavor as we all try to figure out processing, packaging, marketing and how to manage this small, but exciting business adventure for the Bentol Community. |
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| Bentol Clinic and Hospital where we will conduct part of a clinical trial on an anti-malaria mosquito repellent and antiseptic wipe (called CleanOff) developed and initiated by Cross Atlantic and Veritas. |
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| Mother's Day at St. Paul Bridge Corps |
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| Preaching at St. Paul Bridge Corps May 11, 2014 |
Prayer focus:
1. Changes in Salvation Army leadership in Liberia:
Col. Festus Oloruntoba will farewell on Sunday, May 25th and return to his home country of Nigeria to take up an appointment.
Colonels Gabriel and Monica Kathuri, from Kenya, will arrive on June 1st to assume leadership of the Liberia Command.
2. All the many details involved in the anti-malaria endeavor.
Pray especially for the children who suffer greatly from malaria
My contact information in the US:
Bill McKee 3967 Acorn Hill Dr, Canandaigua, NY 14424
Dave and Karen Bearchell, 1884 Wilson Wynd Way, Lawrenceville, GA 30043
Blessings to all.
Pamm
