Reflections from the Widow's Sis

In the stillness of my soul, I reflect to see all that I desire and hope for--
all I honestly wish to be. Laying all things aside and resting in my
place under the sun, I am able to pray diligently for God to change my heart and
help me become the best I can be. Once again, I try to figure out the pieces of
the puzzles of this life, but to no avail. Why? Because often it seems
as if the puzzle changes.... not in the size, for the size of life remains the
same and only God knows the number of "pieces" needed to complete its intricate
design.... not in the shape of the pieces already cut, for they are now memories
of days gone by.....but it changes in the picture and the quality in which it is
seen. With each choice that is made, every word that is spoken, and everything
seen and even heard, objects from the far off horizons are brought to the front
and those tiny brush strokes are highlighted differently, as if in an
unspoken hue.


And as I sit and watch this new panoramic view unfold before my questioning
eyes, I realize that there truly is and was a reason for every drop of color,
every shape and dot made by pencil, pen, chalk, and paint. The marks that are
permanently etched, brushed, drawn out, and sketched ever so lightly on every
single portion confuse my mind as I look at them individually. I remember so
well some of those times and how awful the hurt was to have the most beautiful
shade of the finest pink appear to be ruined when the artist allowed its
brilliance to be covered by horrible shadows of the deepest and darkest of
all colors. Why did it have to be this way? What was wrong with this unique
variety of pink in my life? Why the change?? Why the sudden cut? Why the
need to alter or modify the perfect shape? Wouldn't it have fit the way it
was??

By stepping back, I allow God to repeat this process of revelation by letting
Him put this tapestry of messy blotches and meaningless shapes and forms
together in their correct places. I hope only to be able to see even a partial
view of all that is meant to be. --Maybe some sort of clue as to where this
particular day of recollection fits into it all.??

As I watch the hands of the Master Puzzle Maker turn the pieces and move them to
their proper positons without altering the form or single imprint of the design,
I begin to understand some of the "why's." For before me stands a majestic
mountain. Yes! The same mountain I have noticed before in the far boundaries
of this familiar picture that I look at daily. It is perfectly shaded in the
darkest of colors. A mountain that took several pieces to complete....
several layers of deep and crucial colors to reveal every cliff, canyon, and
crevice that lies within it. A mountain, ...... MY mountain, that I was able to
climb successfully! I now know that I did not need any sort of a pink color
visible to the human eye to enhance its beauty. The artist knew what was taking
place and saw the picture in his mind before it even came to be. And since this
tiny mountain in the far distances of this ever growing puzzle represent that
which has already taken place, I can look beyond the cuts and "dabs" of this day
and know, that it, too, will one day be in the horizons and so small and
so beautiful, that it will only increase the value of the canvas and cardboard
it lies upon.

Love,
~The Widow's Sis