I sit before my puzzle again today, all the easy pieces set in place. I look into the eyes of the little girl who has removed her mask, and all the emptiness surrounding her. She is relying on me to keep moving forward, keep enduring, keep persevering, to make sense out of this whole thing.
I gaze through the pieces that are left trying to take them all in. So many pieces, so many similarities. Some are black and some are white, but so many cannot be defined so simply. The colors converge on most and they don’t make sense. I become overwhelmed. Since this puzzle isn’t new, maybe it doesn’t have all the pieces. Maybe I won’t ever be able to finish this replica.
I want to get up and walk away, not deal with this. As I do I am caught once again by the precious face of this little angel, she herself not even complete. The work is hard, the puzzle difficult and… it is doable. If I pick up only one piece at a time the details become clearer and what I need to do makes more sense. It is manageable. I take a breath, I take a drink, I take the next one step. I cling to my faith that God will give me each piece as I am ready to handle it, and that He will finish my portrait.
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun. ~Ecc 1:9 NKJV
…not even my story, not really.