Finding All the Pieces
a reflection on the jigsaw puzzle of life by sister amata shina
Sister Amata Shina works on a jigsaw puzzle in a common area at Villa Clare in Bethlehem, Pa. Two recently completed puzzles also are shown above.
is your life like a jigsaw puzzle?
Any time that you happen to walk through Villa Claire, a section of Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa., you’ll notice that there is a puzzle in progress on the table. Many Sisters stop there and try to find some of the missing puzzle pieces.
Since we are confined to our Villa space during this pandemic, we have time to do things we might otherwise not. We recently completed two 1,000-piece puzzles (pictured above). As we thought about it, we realized that our lives are just like jigsaw puzzles.
I like putting jigsaw puzzles together. They are time-consuming but, at the same time, they provide a great lesson in patience and persistence. Every piece counts toward making the finished puzzle the beautiful picture that it is.
Just like each piece of the jigsaw puzzle is important to having a finished picture, the same is true with every human trait that we possess. We all have negative and positive traits … things we like about ourselves and dislike about others. When we know how to use everything we have, we can embrace the fact that each puzzle piece is unique and very valuable to completing the puzzle.
Just like each puzzle piece needs to interlock with its compliment to fit together, the same is true for us. God has the right pieces to make the puzzle of your life fit. Our lives are truly masterpieces! The only difference between our lives and the jigsaw puzzle is that our lives are not finished masterpieces. Our lives are always changing, but what does stay the same is that every trait that makes up our magnificent beings is always there. So, we are still masterpieces but not finished ones!
God is not finished with us. We are masterpieces in progress!
