Life is a Big Puzzle

It's been a challenging week for someone who likes lists and plans. Our family started our week by having to change our plans for a family trip.  We'd planned a road trip north and ended up taking a road trip south.  That 180 degree change in direction meant rethinking almost every element of our trip and the preparations we'd already made.  Upon our return I found some personal challenges that were unexpected.  Perhaps they're not as drastic and the directional turn around for the trip but they do mean I have new things to consider in my daily routine.

One of the activities I used to enjoy and that I hope to enjoy again is hiking.  I love walking outdoors listening to the breeze in the tree tops and the quiet sounds of small animals foraging among the leaves.  We spent some time doing a little urban hiking.  Really, it was just a trip to a Natural History museum with some short trails and a zoo.  It shouldn't have been a big deal.  I couldn't complete the two visits. I was discouraged but convinced myself that I'd just stayed up too late the evening before.

I came back from the trip ready to get back into my exercise routine only to find that my body wasn't as willing as my mind. Exercises I've been able to do for weeks were suddenly difficult.  Excuse me, did I somehow leave my body somewhere and bring home a different one? Hey, it's not a perfect body but I want it back, please.

I was one discouraged student at my exercise class Friday.  I really do try to keep a positive attitude.  I consider every increase in strength, balance or stamina as a gain even if it's a tiny improvement. I guess I wasn't very good at hiding my frustration since my coach noticed.  He reminded me that everyone has highs and lows.  He reminded me how far I've progressed. I've got to work to improve my poker face. I'm not sure I was as convincingly appreciative as I should have been.

I've had a little time to think about it.  I find I tend to get so absorbed in the details of the moment that I lose sight of the big picture.  

Today, at church, someone related an analogy that was a nice fit to my week.  She said that life is like a jigsaw puzzle.  You dump it out of the box and it's a mess.  There's a pile of pieces all tumbled together.  It's hard to make them fit together. It's hard to make sense of the picture because you're focused on 1 piece out of 500.  Thank goodness there's a plan.  God sees the full picture on the front of the box.  He knows what the picture of our life can eventually become. 

I'll have to remember that full picture the next time I hit one of those lows and can't seem to make the next piece of my life fit into my puzzle.  It's not that I'm at the bottom. I'm really just about to find a new piece of my picture.