Deanna sporting her favorite hat. BJ brought it to her from Peru.



It is interesting to me, to see how others respond to solving puzzles. Puzzles of all kinds. I like word puzzles, like crosswords, cryptoquips, and jumbles. I've never been very good at jigsaw puzzles.

Some people like the group approach, and join together to solve them. I find that I am too competitive by nature to want anyone helping me. That's probably not a good trait.

Over Christmas, while with family, we worked a couple of large jigsaws. First a thousand piece, and when that was solved, a fifteen hundred piece one.

I sat there as patiently as I could trying to help. I tend to wear blinders when I am working these. I try to find one piece at at time, and I'm very slow. I found some of the rest of my family were much quicker than I am. I didn't like that very much, but kept at it, and tried to be a team player.

I am not sure what the strategy in jigsaw puzzles is supposed to be, other than solving them. I know you start with the perimeter pieces and then work your way in. In participating in the process, I found a couple of people in particular took an area of pieces and worked at amazing speed in fitting them together.

Perhaps it takes practice. I am not sure starting them at two years old is that helpful. I've helped the two year olds in the church nursery with them. They seem more intent on putting the pieces in their mouth or throwing them across the room. I'm not sure that helps build skill.

There were times after so much concentration that I wanted to throw the whole puzzle across the room.

We had worked for many hours over a period of a couple of days on the last fifteen hundred piece puzzle. I was working a section that need mostly black pieces to finish up.

I've noticed that it is a cruel joke to use all of the same color pieces in an area for someone like me. I get a bit nuts, trying to solve it. Most of the pieces are so similar. Their differences so minute (I've used that word two days in a row...I am not sure why) that it is difficult for my small brain to figure them out.

Brains are supposed to weigh about 3 pounds. I think mine probably intimidates the scale at around 2.1 pounds.

I had been working the area for too long. Two of my family were working the other last area. They were sharing toys better than I know how. I noticed when I was working an area, others would withdraw from that region. It might have been my breathe...we were in close quarters.

Anyway, they finished before me...maybe there is something to that teamwork angle.

As they were putting in the last couple of pieces, I drew satisfaction from the fact that my last piece was lost! How cruel is that? How could they box 1499 pieces of a 1500 piece puzzle up? That is just unkind!

One of my family (who had previously helped but had bowed out for the last hour or so) wondered over to observe the finished product.

He sympathized with my frustration over the missing piece...a bit too much. As he spoke, he produced the final piece from its hiding place, and gently placed it in its home. He did so with glee!

I'm not sure how long he will get to be a family member with antics like that.

While the women were poo-pawing his little stunt, I envisioned emulating the football game on tv and taking him down...HARD!

Oh well, I learned a valuable lesson.

Teamwork is important. Trust within that team is important.

If we are to win the world for Christ, we will accomplish far more together than any of us can individually. The bottom line is that we each have to engage for this to work.

We cannot afford people who sit on the sidelines, or people who work their own agendas in order to gain the spotlight. This is and always will be about His glory, and we need to keep that center stage!

There are many out there who have not found their place in Christ. They are important to furthering His kingdom. Let's work together to bring them the Truth.


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