Jigsaw Puzzle

A puzzle starts out a jumbled mess of pieces that don't make sense.You try the pieces one by one. Sometimes they fit together, but most of the choices in the beginning don't fit.You learn to work one section at a time. The picture unfolds slowly, painstakingly.

At least once a day you almost convince yourself this puzzle is simply too difficult to accomplish. If the puzzle goes back into the box and is returned to the shelf, a sense of failure and disappointment linger. You might decide to give up on puzzles altogether.

During winter my mother would dump a jigsaw puzzle on a card table. Every evening she worked on the puzzle.

In the beginning, she would put in lots of time on the puzzle, working long and diligently on it. As the picture began to unfold, she didn't have to work as hard. The pleasure grew and the puzzle became more fun, more rewarding.

Frequency increased her productivity. The more she'd get sidetracked and pulled away from the puzzle, the more times she had to begin again and refocus on the pile of pieces. It wasn't as fun. It wasn't as fruitful. But she stuck with it, and little bit by little bit the puzzle picture unfolded, each piece adding to what would be the completed work.

By the last pieces of the puzzle, she could see where she was going, see to the end of the challenge. She worked faster, joy building toward victory.

When the puzzle was almost finished, the last pieces were put in place by her children. I remember seeing her sitting there smiling, knowing it was almost finished as she watched us complete her work, sometimes guiding our hands so we would find success.

Frequency increases productivity. Consistency, diligence, will reap victory.

Consider that One Thing Resolution you're working to change in 2015. Did you decide it was too difficult and stick it back on the shelf? Did you become sidetracked and forget about the project until hope was gone and frustration with your same old problem took its place?

Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Diligently, daily, show up to focus on your goal, to piece together, however painstakingly those changes that need to be made in your life.  Little bit by little bit you'll see a picture unfold that will bring you pleasure and victory at the end of your challenge. As momentum builds, you'll see results more quickly and joy will build.

You may feel like a jumbled mess of pieces that don't seem to make sense, don't seem to fit with purpose. Remember you are wondrously and lovingly made by God, the Author and Finisher of your faith.  Frequency increases productivity. Consistency will reap victory.

As the picture begins to unfold,  the pleasure for both you and your Creator will grow. Your life will become more fun, more rewarding as the picture of your life unfolds. The Father has already done the hard part of putting the pieces of your life together to make sense. Know that He sees the final picture and can guide your hands.

When the puzzle is almost finished, the last pieces are put in place by His child. Can't you see Him sitting there, smiling with pride and joy as the finished work is revealed?

Well done, Soldier-Princess. Well done.

The To-Do List

"A to-do list?" laughed Stephanie, "I always have one, but never finish it! Motherhood steps in and everything falls apart. I can't balance everything."

Is there any among us who hasn't looked at our to-do list and wanted to stamp it: "Impossible. Going back to bed."

"Life isn't meant to be this hard, is it?" Stephanie asked.  "My goals shouldn't be foes to conquer! They're supposed to bring joy, right?"

When life is full of joy, the heart is restful.  Joy propels us forward. It pushes away thoughts of defeat and failure. The joy of the Lord is our strength. He is the great joyride with a never ending supply. When joy is flowing, we build momentum and motivation. We feel happy about who we are and what God is doing through us, in us. The to-do list looks possible.

"Nobody ever tells you how hard it is to maintain joy and peace with four children underfoot," Stephanie confesses. "My life is one giant interruption.  I want to be strong. But I'm not. I'm just not."

Jesus had a to-do list:
      1. Spend time with the Father.
      2. Show up to love.
  
People clamored and shouted and made demands for His attention. Joy spurred Him on to love and good works. But He, too, got tired, frustrated and stressed. He needed to get away just like you and I do. Oh, how He understands the mothers of young children!

The needs and interruptions were opportunities for love and grace. His life bore much fruit because of His habit to get away to a quiet place with the Father. His mind was set on things above.

Pull out that festive paper you bought for your to-do lists. 
        1.  Spend time with the Father.
        2.  Show up to love.

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock.  In His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom;  He will gently lead the nursing ewes. -Isaiah 40:11

Who better than the Good Shepherd to show you how to care for your young? Ask and it will be given to you.  Seek and you will find. 

Hoarding and the Inmate

"There's so much to clean out of this house. Truckloads!" Shelby moaned. "I'm not exaggerating. How can we move? How will we ever get past the piles of...stuff?"

Hoarders. We see them on the television and our eyes widen. How do they live like that? How can they not see their clutter is holding them back from a well lived life?

I have a neighbor who cleans out her garage about once a month. She says she is determined to live a better life. She pulls everything out of her garage, rearranges it, then returns nearly all of it to the garage. If something doesn't fit her new arrangement, she piles it by her front door or has a garage sale. Most of it slowly returns to the garage until the next time.

In prison you don't have a lot of stuff. There may be a few possessions you have collected during your stay, but, your job income of 75 cents an hour in the prison only allows for  necessities.

Hoarding is still a problem. Even in the prison. Not the hoarding of physical stuff, but the hoarding of sins.

Inmates do not have the luxury of ignoring their sins. They are offenders and their sins must be punished. A prisoner who longs for a better life must not only do the time, but redeem the time. Change that results from sorting through the clutter of sin is their only hope.

Many of us are in prisons of our own making. We make an effort to get rid of sins, to clean out the garage of the heart. But sin clutter mostly gets moved around, hidden behind walls or disguised with pretty words.  If we can laugh about the sin, we lessen its importance. In the end, like my neighbor in her garage ,most sins receive a little more time to continue cluttering our lives.

It's easier to consider sin by the truckload. "I'm just out of shape" is somehow acceptable clutter so that we don't have to exercise or take good care of the body, God's dwelling place. Hiding anger, pride or laziness behind words like "I'm just tired" or "All moms yell sometimes" somehow makes it easier to walk past the sins rather than removing them.

Some hoarders recognize the problem, but, like my neighbor, merely rearrange their possessions. The possessions look valuable, helpful. It makes them feel prepared for a future day.

Pride can seem valuable. Greed can seem helpful. Selfishness can make us feel prepared for a future day. The rich young ruler walked away sad because he had many possessions. His "stuff" kept him from living by faith not sight. He had much but did not live well because his choices kept him from giving God first place in his heart.

Less of me and my stuff opens up room for more of Him.

"Just tell me what to do and where to start," a young prisoner said to me. She has seven children and one on the way. She's a new Christian and ready to rid herself of piles of sin clutter. We start the same way I unload my own truckload of junk. One sin at a time.

The Gift of Change

Eight years ago I began choosing one yearly resolution. The first one took a full year of focus and practice, but was worth every effort. "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." Life is nothing without challenge, right? It became a life resolution and spurred me on toward love and good works in following years.

I tried an easier resolution the next year. "Learn to make excellent cookies." It turned into a year of opportunitites to meet children, elderly people, strangers and neighbors as I sought taste-testers for my cookies. I don't know when I've had so much fun learning in the kitchen as I did that year!

"Have more tea parties." This resolution was successful in a way I never could have expected. It was the catalyst for this blog and subsequently for Tuesday night Titus 2 Tea parties in my home. God took my resolve for change and with it opened the door of my heart and my home to people around the world.

Lights twinkle on the tree by our front window and stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Recipes are scattered across the counter and "White Christmas" is playing in the background. It's the season of ThanksGiving and Celebration, endings and beginnings.

I am learning, by focusing on one thing at a time, that there is always enough grace for even me. When I awaken every morning, I know God is not disappointed to discover the need for more refining in my life. From glory to glory He's changing me  - just as He promised.

 The opportunity to change one thing at a time is one of God's greatest gifts.

The Work at Hand

Michael looked up at me with widening blue eyes as I continued to tumble wooden blocks from the crate to the floor. To a three year old, it must have seemed like an endless supply.

"Oh, wow!" he breathed, tossing his red curls as he shook his head. With a soft groan of confusion, even dismay, he sat down beside the blocks, took a big breath and slowly released it, simply sitting there looking at the mountain of blocks.

As he acquainted himself with the various shapes and sizes, he began to sort piles of blue squares, red rectangles and yellow triangles. Every few minutes he would bring me tall cylinders, dowel rods and half circles.

He began to build with sure fingers and focused brow. This boy had a definite plan in mind and was working diligently to bring his vision to reality. When his project would crash, Michael would focus on the problem and rebuild.

Sometimes life can look like a mountain with it's seemingly endless supply of challenges and hard knocks.

I'm glad for my paycheck, but I don't know if I can keep working at this pace. I'm grateful for my children, but I don't know how to get through the clutter in my kitchen. The wow moments are often groan moments.

"Michael," I said, drawing away his focus. "What do you want me to do with the blocks you brought to me?"

He grinned. "You can have them. I don't know what to do with those. They're too big."

Michael evaluated what he had, considered what he knew how to do. The blocks he wasn't ready for or didn't know how to use were placed out of sight, out of mind. Through failures and successes, he intentionally continued to build and rebuild, to learn from the problems and make changes.

What do you want to create in your life? A healthier body? A happier work place? An uncluttered home?

We need a definite plan, a vision for building our best life. We need to focus and work diligently until our project is done. The overwhelm and chaos leave our minds when we focus on the work at hand.

Michael stood up, placed his hands on his hips and viewed the finished project. My smile drew him to me and he sat silently, peacefully in my lap. I rocked the chair back and forth as we viewed his completed project.

"Well," Michael said, "I did it. I created the best castle ever in this whole city."

"Well done, my good and faithful servant, you have been approved to receive the keys to the city," I told him. "Diligent work shall be rewarded. I decree cookies and milk with the king. What say you?"

Ethan's Training Wheels

My grandson, Ethan, pedaled his new bike around the sparkling lake. Training wheels slowed him down for the first round, but quickly my walking alongside him transitioned into running.

"You have to be a good runner to keep up with me, Meme!" he yelled.

Even during our break (my break) he kept his eyes moving around the park, scouting out our next adventure.

"Let's climb that mountain!" he suggested, eagerly pointing to the high rocky waterfall.

Strong muscles and loud laughter took us up his first mountain climb. It was a rocky slope fit for a six year old and his grandma. Joy bubbled over with every lung full of fresh air. It was an excellent workout and a highlight in our wonderful day at the park.

The next day I thought about going for another run. I thought about calling Mark, my running buddy who paces me so that I do my best. I thought about it most of the day. I intended to run, but never ran. My new habits sometimes are as wobbly as Ethan's new wheels.

"I went back to my old habits," Lindy confessed to me yesterday. "I don't know if I got lazy or what happened, but my new year resolution has fallen apart. I was doing so great. Now I'm just disappointed in myself."

Momentum builds as we work toward our goal day by day. Skipping a day or two knocks us out of our new routine and slowly we slide back into the old habits. It isn't possible to sustain excellence daily. It is possible to sustain the training if we don't give up.

It doesn't matter how many times around the lake you have to use training wheels before you find your balance. It doesn't matter how big the mountain or how far you are from the top. It matters very much that you don't quit.

"Keep pedaling, Ethan!" I called as he soared ahead of me. "You're doing it! You're doing it! Keep going and don't stop!"

Princess of Quite A Lot

Each January, the ladies in my life group spend an evening discussing our personal goals for the coming year. We share one thing we have resolved to change, and we share our inspirational word.


By sharing our goal and inspirational word we receive accountability, prayers and encouragement. It's one of our favorite Girls' Nights of the year. The practice is teaching us humility, transparency and commitment to one another.

"My 2013 word is 'stewardship'," one friend has decided. "God is a God of order. I want to see stewardship in my finances, my housekeeping and my time."

Stewardship. An old word for a new goal.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything belongs to God. My marriage, my children, my body, my job, my pain, my disease, my suffering. When our hands are open to what God lays in them, it's all grace.  It's all gifts that we are given to manage. We are stewards, caretakers.

As Mary Englebreit so creatively puts it, I am a "princess of quite of lot".

How we care for whatever we are given matters to Him.  It should matter to us.

What hinders you from being a good steward of the gifts God has given?

Wake me up, Father

For years I have chosen one thing in my life I want to change each year. The whole "make a list of resolutions and fail by February thing" just didn't work for me. 

I choose one positive challenge. Discipline for the purpose of  godliness has brought about amazing changes. I work alongside God to be available for His purposes and He changes me from the inside out while I'm focused on Him instead of me.

Photo by Elyce Feliz (flicker.com)

Awake. My inspirational word choice for 2013. My goal? Live fully awake to His presence.

On the second day in January 2013, truth settled at home in my heart. Bible-on-lap, heart-opened-wide, tears streaming down. I ached with disappointment. The day had been filled with accomplishments, products of my discipline and determination, wonderful accomplishments. 

The problem was I had gotten sidetracked from my goal. I slept through the day. I was not awake to God's presence like I want to be, like I resolved to be. It's a thin line, isn't it? The line between awake and asleep. One can accomplish the very same things either way. I had worked hard all day. I had made big strides toward accomplishing important tasks, good tasks. 

But, what had I missed? I missed one-of-a-kind, precious moments lived fully awake to the presence of God. I missed it. Like the family of Jesus watching Him run and play, laugh and pray. The Face of God, Emmanuel, the with-them-God living under the same roof. And they missed it.

~Father, I'm sorry when I get sidetracked from being fully awake to Your presence all around me! You keep Your side of our covenant. You did a mighty work inside of me while I remained blind to Your presence. How faithful You are, even when I am faithless! Create in me a heart that is fully awake. Wake. Me. Up. To the beautiful, amazing reality of Your presence in me, before me, beside me and behind me. Wake. Me. UP!

[For more on choosing ONE THING for your year, see One Road for Katie]

Child-size Resolutions

"Sparkle"

A new year resolution is an excellent forum for teaching a child obedience, discernment and promise keeping.

Even a preschooler gets excited about making life better. Do not look down on small beginnings. Your child is never too little to learn that a focus on God's purposes makes life easier. Make it fun to learn discipline for the purpose of godliness.

Establish hope. Discuss living life with excellence and honor.Set aside a specific time to talk with your child about the importance of goals and planning. Share one thing you want to change in your own life. Brainstorm about goals he might like to make. Ask your child to choose one thing he will resolve to do this year.  

Pray with your child. We all have a lot to learn, but family accountability makes it easier to change. With God all things are possible! Find a Bible verse or passage with your child that speaks directly to the change. Keep it before him as a verse to memorize and study. He needs his very own collection of Bible verses.

Effect change. Use positive words. "Speak encouraging words" is more positive than "Stop arguing with my sister". Have the child choose one word to be their 2013 inspiration word for the year. "Encourage" would work well with this example. 

Frame a drawing of the word, paint it on a rock, color it on the wall, or write it in lipstick across the mirror. Go out for ice cream to celebrate. Children love doing something that creates an event from a decision.

Encourage action. Teach your child to focus on discipline for the purpose of godliness. Learning to work on a change that benefits others will allow God room to change the child from the inside out.  Right actions produce right feelings.

In our example, you might choose encouraging others at the grocery store, visiting a nursing home, writing encouraging notes to practice speaking encouragement. Collect God's encouraging words. Talk about people in the Bible and in your world that are good encouragers.

As you teach your child to live intentionally, he will learn that life is joyful and exciting when we work alongside God to change our world. And in the process, we change ourselves.

Abby decided that she would stop sneaking candy and chips from the pantry. "Eat healthy food" became her goal.  Her word was "Honesty". At bedtime, exhausted from working in the food pantry with her dad, Abby prayed, "Dear God, Thank you that it's so much fun to take care of hungry people."  

Awake, My Soul, and Sing!

Photo by Kate Ter Haar (flickr.com)

Clean white snow falls gently, silently, smoothly. Winter wind increases and tosses the flakes about recklessly, brutally.

Each snowflake is unique, each necessary to the earth. A single snow flake lands on my glove, trembles for a moment, is joined by several others. Like a vapor they each melt away at their own time.

In the stillness, surrounded by falling snowflakes, I look upward.  More snowflakes than I can count fall around me. And I smile, awestruck with wonder. There is a God who sees and guides each individual snowflake from beginning to end.

"Be still and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10

A Sabbath heart, a heart that is still, learns to know God. Every day we enter the quiet Sabbath place. We listen for the still small voice of the God who is there and is not silent, the God who is able to do even more than we ask or imagine. And then every day we seek out the lost, the broken, the lonely in our world.

Life tosses us about, reckless, brutal to a being as fragile and unique as a single snowflake. We are here for a moment before we tremble and melt away.

Awake, my soul, and sing! Prepare the mind for action! Through many a conflict and many a doubt, awake my soul, and sing! 

One Thing

What you do, every day, makes a difference. My most recent article was published in the January 1, 2012 issue of Lookout Magazine. I hope it encourages you to change your world in the coming year~

The article is entitled One Thing

"As I select a resolution for the New Year, my heart swells with hope. He is not only the author, but the finisher of my faith. A year from now God will have done a mighty work in me. It will make a difference not only in my life, but in the lives of others." 

~Karen Joy Robertson