This morning Mags and Liam had lofty ambitions. They had found an old 1000 piece puzzle moldering in sawdust down in the basement and they were going to put it together. That ambition lasted about as long as it took for them to pull all of the pieces out of the boxes. They were defeated before they began.
Which got me to thinkin’ about lofty ambitions…and the like. I’ve always been easily discouraged by seemingly BIG tasks. It’s so much less daunting to bite off small pieces. But I also want them to learn the impossibly hard lesson: delayed gratification. Ack!!! Delayed gratification is the bane of our existence! Isn’t it? Waiting? It’s awful, torturous stuff! It’s how God toys with me when he’s bored…not that He ever gets bored. He’s phenomenally busy. I get that. But, every once in awhile I wonder if God’s sense of humor runs along the same lines as my own sense of humor. Wouldn’t that be scary and slightly disheartening? Do you think he laughs when we fall down? I know I sure do. I’m thinkin’ he’s a better person than I…but still…sometimes I picture him in a heavenly recliner eating popcorn and laughing ( not in a malicious way of course) while I squirm and try desperately, in vain to be the one in control of my life.
All of that long winded mess was meant to work this thread around to my solution to the puzzle dilemma. They wanted to solve a puzzle, remember? We had to make a Wal-Mart run anyway. Because, naturally, we found out last night that Liam needed black gym shorts for his basketball pics today. I got Mags a 100 piece puzzle and Liam a 250 piece.
They have been working on them here and there all day. I’ve told them that puzzles aren’t meant to be done in 5 minutes. Or even 15 minutes. Not everything has to be done right away. Some things are worth savoring, and puzzling over.
And it makes finishing so much sweeter!
I love you all!
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