My son Blake and I tackle at least one complicated puzzle every Christmas.

(We’re the only two in the family that are remotely interested in staring at small, randomly colored pieces of cardboard for hours at a time. :-))

Our method?  We pour the pieces out on the table.  One big hot mess of  a thousand different shapes that look overwhelmingly unrelated to anyone trying to make sense of them.

As in, “How the heck is this gonna come together?”

But we have a plan, my boy and I.

We look at the lid.

It’s the picture of our goal – the finished product. It’s our motivation to finish and our direction on how to get there.

As we sort through the pile of pieces, we select the ones that have something in common.  A straight edge.  These limited number of pieces will define the boundaries. It will make the puzzle actually feel doable. Anything that we add will fall within the frame of these edge pieces.

It still doesn’t make a lot of sense, but there is a sense of definition that is happening.

Once this is finished, the hard work starts.  There are still 900 plus tiny bits of cardboard that haven’t found their place yet.

Though it could appear hopeless, we pursue completion because we know that everything that tumbled out of the box would become part of the big picture, even if we can’t visualize it yet.

We’re trusting that box lid.

We spend hours doing this.  Our backs ache as we bend over the table that holds our eventual masterpiece.  Our eyes get sore.  We get antsy.  But we keep on until it’s done.  We become almost consumed with the hope that box lid is giving us.

The closer we get to our goal, the more motivated we are to finish.  It starts becoming easier as the picture begins to emerge and the number of unused pieces diminishes.

Our eyes begin to pick up cues from familiarity with the pieces. We begin to see their connection.

Everything is finding its place, snug against every piece surrounding it.  All within the perimeter of the edge and a perfect replica of what we had set as our goal – the picture on that box lid.

So many tiny, seemingly senseless, things coming together for a common cause and endpoint.

There are few things so satisfying. 🙂  At least, to Blake and me.

My life this past year has looked a lot like that puzzle.

I knew I had all the pieces (or at least I hoped I did) but didn’t know exactly where they fit.

God has taken me on a journey this past year.  He has been asking me to use my gifts, abilities and even my brokenness to touch people’s lives.

He’s been insisting that this would include my creativity, my writing and my love for decorating.

He offered me a “box” with a really pretty picture on it, but when I looked inside, all I could see were the pieces.

To my human eyes, it didn’t look like any of them could fit together to make anything meaningful.

 The components were “random”.

The timing seemed off.  

Clarity was lacking.  

Questions were many and answers seemed so few.

Waiting seemed to be the name of the game and in my panic I tried too many times to run ahead.

But God began to teach me to pick up one piece of this life puzzle at a time and find the common denominator with other individual pieces of my life.  These would serve as my edge pieces that would form a framework for everything else I pursued.

And sure enough, there WERE parts that looked alike.  Each had their own color and shape, but was able to connect to another and form a structure that would make sense of the madness that played in my head.

These are what the impassioned pieces of my puzzle looked like by themselves:

Soul.  

Home.  

Restoration.  

Healing.  

Comfort.

 Warmth.  

Love.

 Forgiveness.  

Peace.

People.

These words that were once so separate in my mind are all starting to connect to form who I am at my core and what it is I was made to be and do.  They are becoming the framework for my life’s purpose.

They will show up in my creativity, my writing and my work.

 Every fitting piece should form a final product that shows HIS reflection. 

Each day I want to look at the “box lid” of God’s Word as my reference.  My direction to the ultimate goal of knowing Him more and looking more like Him in the way I live life and love others.

This blog and its new look is a celebration of this new focus.

 The edge is in place.  

A clearer picture is beginning to emerge.

The pieces are literally falling into place.

My hope is that The Jarvis House will be a place to find your soul’s home and your home’s soul.  To see the correlation between the two and how our homes and our lives can reflect the warmth, love and acceptance our souls can know in Jesus.

xoxoxo

J

James 1:5 – If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Psalm 16:5-8, 11 – Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.