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)

Preaching at Sinkor Corps
at their Mother's Day Program
(May 18, 2014)

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.

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.

Mother's Day at St. Paul Bridge Corps

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