Where Do You Find Your Puzzle Pieces?

I love puzzles.  I remember when Dustin was developing into a toddler, I looked at the toddler puzzles and for his first puzzle, I selected a Pluto puzzle.  It was a wooden board with a picture of Mickey's dog, cut into seven pieces, to be placed back together to complete the picture. Well, Dustin wasn't very good at it, so the next time I went to the store, I saw the puzzles for the youngest toddlers.  They had four pieces, each was a picture of it's own, that neatly fit into the cut out of it's own picture.  I think I bought four that day so Dustin could learn to do puzzles and not get bored.  He got pretty good at placing the turtle, frog, fruits,farm animals and bath toy cut out pieces where they belonged.  I thought he was a genius!

I've thought for sometime now that knowing what God wants me to do as part of His plan for my life is something of a puzzle.  Some days it takes me longer than others to figure out exactly what the picture of that puzzle is, but I keep trying.  

I picked up a couple pieces of my plan's puzzle in just the last week.  The first was another statement that I received from our BSF class lecture. One of Moses' three requests to God, as he approached Him to get further instructions, after God had given the Israelites the Ten Commandments the second time.  He asked God, after "teach me your ways" and "go with us" to "show him His Glory".  At first glance, this request doesn't seem quite as important as the first two.  But then our lecture leader, Mary Beth stated, " We can take God's glory into the darkest times of our lives".   Hmmmm, that sounds pretty good.

Do you have favorite Christmas movies?  Of course I do!  One is White Christmas with our local celebrity of the past, Rosemary Clooney.  She sang the most touching song with Bing in that movie, Count Your Blessings, Instead of Sheep.  The song came on my radio station this morning as Mark was getting ready to leave.  It was Amy Grant singing, not nearly as wonderful as Rosemary and Bing, but all the same, the words rang true.

Yesterdays Upper room reading was about a family dealing with a son's serious bout with depression.  A counselor suggested that they try to list their blessings during this time when they felt consumed by darkness.  They did so and and felt enlightened to remind themselves that God was still working in their lives through each and every day of their journey, as a family dealing with their son's depression.  Doesn't this sound like God's glory shining in our darkest times.

I'm reminded to always be thankful for all the many blessings in my life, this is giving Him the glory, and when He knows we are doing this, He can let that glory shine light into the darkness of our difficult times.  It's amazing how these puzzle pieces fit together to give us a wonderful picture of a loving God who wants to be with us, wants to teach us His ways through our savior, Jesus and also wants to show us His glory by lighting our way each time we acknowledge Him for the wonderful blessings in our life.

I still have so much to do to prepare myself and my home for Christmas.  I hope you are preparing for the celebration of the coming of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ.  Take care, stay safe and warm.  luv, Susan   ps Dustin did finally master the Pluto puzzle!