1988. That was the year that my most beloved person in the world went home to be with Jesus. My grandmother, Mary.
My goodness, she was absolutely a saint. I loved her dearly, and she loved me just the same.
She was the matriarch of the family, and when she passed away, things just didn’t feel the same anymore.
Because we spent so much time together, everything about our family was different, except for one thing…how much we loved her. She was still the center of conversation, but now it was only through memories.
six months or more had passed, and Christmas came. As always, all of the family was together, opening gifts and sharing stories, when my Aunt Jackie walked into the room with a card table and a puzzle box.
“This is my gift to everyone this year. We’re all going to work this puzzle together.” The only problem was that there was no picture on the box!
For the remainder of the day, my family took turns working on a thousand-piece puzzle with no idea what the puzzle would be.
Then, as the pieces were put into place, you began to hear laughter and crying. “That’s a picture of Grandma!”
Sure enough, it was.
My Aunt Jackie had taken her favorite picture of Grandma, and had it made into a puzzle so that on that very first Christmas without her, it would still feel like she was with us.
It was a great idea. Puzzles always are.
They make you focus and think, and in the end, there is a sense of great satisfaction. Especially if you aren’t missing the last piece.
My son and I completed a very intricate 500-piece wooden puzzle the other night. It was the first wooden one that we had ever done.
As we were working on it, he looked up at me and said, “Mom, so many fit, but they don’t belong.”
He was absolutely correct. The puzzle pieces were cut in such a way that even though they went together, the design on the top didn’t match, therefore, they didn’t fit.
As we placed the last pieces, I thought about how I would tell him that his observation went far beyond the puzzle pieces and pointed toward us as Christians.
In this world, we may fit in, but we don’t belong. In John 17:14, Jesus states that God has placed us in this world, and that Jesus prays for our protection from evil because just like Him, we are in the world, but not of it.
Therefore, we will have to endure the hate, persecution and rejection, for being “like Jesus.” But “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)
It’s easy to make it look like you fit in. But for the true Christian there should be no question to the outside world as to whether or not you “belong.”
If we maintain a life of witness and service for the Lord, the world will see the difference. We are commanded not to love the world nor to be conformed by it, but rather to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
One day soon, the Lord will add that last piece to the puzzle and complete the work that he began in us, so stand firm in the faith, that you may endure until the end.
