Puzzled

My dad has loved doing jigsaw puzzles for as long as I can remember. I learned how to put one together and I LOVE doing them and the challenge they bring and that it is a challenge I can succeed in finishing.

I am often the sibling that starts a puzzle with him before everyone else gets there on Sunday and they have to jump in to help finish it so we have the table for dinner. Dad and I have learned to do the 500 piece or less so we can succeed in this before dinner is ready. The 1000 piece puzzles are more for the days we are doing puzzles only and not having a big family dinner.

Marc has been so thoughtful with his picture taking lately and I was so happy to see he got this one of me,
my brother and my dad all working hard to place our pieces so we could make room for dessert.

Avery has been really into doing puzzles for about a year now, but it does go in spurts. She gets very nervous that she won't complete it just right when she is first starting, but once she gets past the nerves she flies through them. She has asked Marc often to do a puzzle with her.

Here are couple over the last 2 weeks that they have worked on and completed:

I'm so proud of her for doing these puzzles and really challenging herself

When putting puzzles together with my dad, he always taught me to flip all the pieces over to the picture side up, find as many edges as you can to start building your frame, then find sections and work on the sections as you find them, and when possible, have a reference picture of the finished puzzle.

If I sit down with a pile of puzzle pieces and pick only one out of the pile, I just stare at it for a while not knowing where it belongs.

I know I wouldn't be successful doing it that way. I would get overwhelmed, frustrated and just give up on finishing the puzzle at all.

I do better with a framework to work within and kind of get my bearings on where certain sections of the puzzle belong.

So here I am in my life, slightly puzzled.

Yep, life itself can also be puzzling.

I think I have my framework together and then as I get moving along I realize that I had some empty spots so get hung up on finding that one piece and then I inadvertently skip over the pieces that compile the beautiful sunflower field that belongs in the center. Or, in relation to life... I feel like I am not doing all I can as a wife or mother, which are like the framework of my existence these last few years and I forget to enjoy the pieces that have fallen together without really even noticing-- like the laughter of the kids when they tell each other jokes, the moments they serve and help one another or the hugs they shower me with.

Sometimes the middle comes together before all the framework has been laid in place, but the important part to recognize is that it is the puzzle, as a whole, that shows the entire picture.

You have to step back and look at how your life is coming together beautifully piece by piece.

There may be "empty" spaces that we see as we step back to look at it all, but that doesn't mean that those pieces were lost or given to someone else... it will all come together in time.

We have to trust the Creator that He has given and will still give us all the pieces that are needed to complete the full picture.

Until it is altogether, just enjoy the process of figuring it out, studying it out and the smaller pictures you can depict along the way.

And, ya, sometimes there is a whirlwind that will sweep some, if not all, of the pieces into a pile on the floor. But trust me, you will be able to pick all of the pieces back up and start placing them one-by-one back into place and it may seem more familiar as you go along this time so you just have to soak up the wisdom you have gained in the experience.

I guess I'm saying all this, not because you need the advice/analogy, but more so is that I do.

I need to remember to keep placing my pieces and enjoy the process on not dwell on the pieces I haven't found yet.