The Parable of The Puzzle

I have been retired for a year now. There are a lot of things I have discovered about this retirement lifestyle change. The first is, I really like it. As I tell all who ask how retirement is going, "I love it. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want." As I have also discovered, that's not always a good thing.

There are times when I am busy - working on the tiny house I am building or building beds for kids who don't have one. or simply just reading my Bible. But there are also times I have nothing to do. What do I do when that occurs? I put together puzzles.

I never really thought about it before but I have been putting puzzles together my entire life. As an architectural draftsman I drew plans for buildings. I would have to figure out how all the walls and windows went together before anyone actually built anything.

Building my tiny home is no different. How can I cramp a lifestyle into 215 square feet? You just figure it out. I recently built a bed from a video I saw on YouTube. Someone asked me, "How did you know how to build the bed? Where did you get your plans?" My reply was, "I didn't have any plans. I just figured it out and built it."

Life is a lot like that. We end up just figuring stuff out along the way. Relationships are like that too.

We live in a throw-away culture. It's broken? Well, throw it out and get another one.

I recently put together a puzzle. The one pictured above. 1000 pieces. Very enjoyable. There are many "little puzzles" within the bigger puzzle. However, when I got to the end I discovered that one of the puzzle pieces was missing. A little disappointing, yes. But I still enjoyed putting the puzzle together. I still enjoyed completing the challenge. That's the way relationships should be.

We can't just say, "Well, THAT didn't work. Time to take this old relationship to Goodwill and try someone new." That's not how God wants to live our lives or our relationships. Every relationship is full of challenges. We are not supposed to throw out the puzzle because one piece is missing or damaged.

I have put together puzzles with a missing pieces and damaged pieces. Sure, the finished product wasn't what I was thinking it would be but I finished it. I finished the challenge. May each of us treat our relationships like puzzles. Assemble the pieces, enjoy the challenge, and even if there are pieces missing or damaged in some way, stand back and look at the whole picture and what you and God have made.

“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." - Ephesians 4:2

“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." - Mark 10:9