I LOVE doing puzzles! Do you? My husband absolutely does not and therefore does not see a wonderful masterpiece in the making...he sees a waste of time and a mess! It does take patience. I could say the same thing about his game watching....for hours sitting in one place (the couch) seemingly wasting time, eventhough he's as happy as can be!  So, I get it. You won't spend hours on something voluntarily unless you are enjoying what you are doing.

Needless to say, over the years my puzzles have changed, as well as how often I even pull one out to create. It's probably been over a year since I pulled one out to work. Of course, there is an open invitation for anyone who wants to jump in and build this masterpiece with me. At first glance, it is overwhelming, especially for the younger kids! They are used to the large, 2" pieces with a maximum of 24 pieces! Mine, I will do anything over 200. (I do prefer the traditional cut pieces though!)

I had to stop and think why the kids freak out when they see all the hundreds of odd shapes spread over a 4 ft area...it's too much work...where do you even begin...what if there's a piece missing...what if it takes aaaaall daaaaay long!?! The older you get, you are able to understand how to approach a puzzle, looking first for edge pieces, then grouping similar designs/colors. It's not overwhelming, it's a challenge. And you know it's gonna take a certain commitment to stick with it, completing it.

I was sitting here reflecting through my Week 1 Homework in True Woman 101 and how I have felt a little overwhelmed at all that encompasses being a Woman of God. Soooo many pieces. Such a commitment of time and energy to work it all out. Where do you begin? 

God reminded me of my puzzle. His "divine design" for me. Our puzzle changes as we change. The big picture is the same, but the cuts (shapes) change. God only gives us what we can handle and when we first walk with Him, I imagine the puzzle being a 12 pc which at the time seems like a challenge, but then it becomes easy and through time and maturity, we can handle the 24, 48, 50, 100 pieces. Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, you see the glorious end result, but getting started and putting together all the middle pieces can be overwhelming and sometimes a seemingly impossible feat!

I look at being a Woman of God and everything that it means. Womanhood encompasses every bit of our life in our many different roles, all the thoughts and feelings, and everything tangible physically in our life. At the core is being a Child of God and that right there takes up most of the pieces!!! God is the Creator and Designer. He gives what we can handle and nothing more eventhough it can look like it at first glance. 

The truth is that the Creator knows what it takes to get to the glorious picture at the end of each of our puzzles. He has given us a Helper in the Holy Spirit that will work it out with us, leading and encouraging us to push through the times you can't make sense of a design. If you are patient, He will show you the big picture and help you fit all the pieces together, some of which need to be turned around so you can see the design on the other side. Ya don't get far with a bunch of brown pieces!

There is nothing more exciting (in the puzzle world) than to get to the last few holes...one by one, snapping in each one! Anticipation grows!! I imagine my husband feels the same thing as he watched his favorite player running towards the goal line, or as he watches a putt rolling ever so slowly towards the hole. You almost become giddy!

As we join with our Helper to put together our puzzle, one by one, the pieces of our puzzle, may we resist the urge to give up, or walk away. Instead, may we work fervently to turn over all the brown pieces and complete it to the glorious end!!

Father God,

Thank You that You have designed a glorious end just for me, for each season in my life, for each trial, in each wilderness, You hold the big picture and I place my trust in You. Be my strength when I feel like giving up and for the endurance to push onward. Help me to keep my eyes on Your glorious end and not all my pieces that sometimes seems scattered beyond reach. With You, my Helper, I can do all things. Mountains can move, shattered pieces can be mended, missing pieces can be found when I trust in Your Help.

Sweet and Patient God, thank You. Piece by piece, I'm laying them down and melding together the design You've made for me. May You receive all the glory in "my" design. Amen!

 

  

All about Pink & Blue

Sugar & Spice and everything nice!

Oh the blessings of being a GIRL! Once a month it's not so "fun" but the rest of the time it's pretty great I think! I'm a NOT a super Girly-Girl, but neither am I a Tom-boy. I enjoy dressing up but I can dig down in the dirt and get my nails dirty!

It's the very first question when someone announces they are expecting..."Is it a Girl or a Boy?" And of course after the birth, they always ask, "When's the next one?!" Good Grief!

My husband and I were blessed with 7 babies, four of which I care for here on Earth. The other three are in Good Hands.

In 1997, God blessed us with our first BOY.We spent the last 4 months of the pregnancy at High Risk visits watching the fluid build up in one of his tiny kidneys.Prayers were heard and there were no complications! Just one week early we met our big boy, weighing in at 8 lbs 4oz.  Everything "boy" and blue denim had filled our house. Blue blankets, burp rags, furniture, balls, toys, bottles, bags, pacifiers.

Then, in 1999, we lost our first little Angel baby only to unexpectantly find ourselves carrying our next bundle of energy! I LOVE being pregnant, such a gift, however, the pregnancy was not easy. My hormone levels had not returned back to normal ranges so when I became pregnant, my body responded as if I was already 4 months pregnant and I began to have contractions early, and I spent 6 months on bed rest hooked up to a monitor. After several trips to Labor and Delivery to settle the contractions, after 6 months of getting out twice a week in my wheelchair to go to church only, and arriving two weeks ahead of schedule, God slipped our blonde haired, blue-eyed baby boy in our hands, weighing 8lbs 1 oz.

Over the next several years, two more babies returned Home to their Heavenly Father and I cannot wait to meet them!!!

In 2005, a sea of PINK flooded our home, over powering all the denim. Lace and ruffles, bows and softness filled our home and life with all things GIRLY!! Such sweet clothes and blankets. This Tinkerbell of a Princess arrived three weeks early, weighing in at albs 5ozs. It definitely awoke the sleeping Princess within me! I found myself matching her colors and trading some of the jeans for some cute skirts!

And to our surprise, God gave us another blonde haired, blue-eyed bundle of joy, weighing in at 10lbs, 7ozs and this boy still surprises me to this day, taking his time arriving one week LATE and still continues to take his time.

When we got married, we attended marriage conferences as an enrichment to our marriage. We both have parents who are divorced and have committed to truly let God be at our center and reason! We just wanted to know HOW!  Once we entered Parenthood, we attended with the same fervor and desperation how to do it right and not to mess it up!! 20 years of marriage seminars, 15 years or parenting seminars, and today I sit in one about Womanhood. Week 1 not even completed and His Word and the insights fall fresh on me! I almost can't formulate the words to express it. Wow! Amazing God! I could go on and on with this and maybe I will blog some of this out but for now, let me tell you this: You most certainly DO have a purpose. You were created as a Masterpiece. You were created in Divine Design, in your specific role.

We were created male and female. We have a role and purpose. We are a reflection of Christ and the Church. If I understand my role as a Helpmate to Christ, it helps me understand how to be one to my Husband. If I understand my role as a woman, and I honor God through my Womanhood, won't I be a better Mommy? A Wife? A Church Member? A Friend? YES!!! He tells us "Seek FIRST His Kingdom." This is not just in how to live out day to day life, but with who we are...seek out who you are in Him first. Know the Hands that made you, then learn who He made you to be, then learn how to use the tools He gifted you with as you live the life He designed for you, as you live to honor God above all others. Your How To is The Word!!!

I tell my kids all the time, if you are living a life pleasing to The Lord, you know without a doubt that Dad and I will be pleased! If their focus is to please God above all others, all the "others" will be happy too. If they only focus on being a student and friend and Dickerson Child and yet never look towards fulfilling their role in the Kingdom which highlights the glory of God, how will they ever be satisfied? Our greatest joy is being in the center of God's Will for our life! Not having a happy marriage, earning several commas in the paycheck, being a popular and envied Parent or being a social-lite respected and known. Where does our heart's joy come from?? The Lord!! Our Peace. Our Comfort. Our Joy!

Are their roots digging deep into a sold foundation or are they spreading themselves out in shifting sand?

Maybe you have never gone all the way back to the very first question of and for yourself...Are you a Girl or a Boy in Christ? Beyond your special "parts", were you created for Manhood or Womanhood? Boy or Girl, there is a gifting only you can fulfill in all of creation. There is more to life than being the best at serving others (and ourselves if we are honest). How would our life change if our only desire was to bring honor and glory to God alone? Above all others. Understand there is a God. Beginning to End, He created everything, and in everything, with a purpose. The purpose is to reveal His beautiful Glory. To reveal Himself to us. To Love. Are you a man of God or a woman of God? Let's learn "how to" do that!!

SIDENOTE: Seminars are great, not saying we should not attend or that we won't gain practical advice, cuz we certainly have; what I am saying is that it is crucial that in order for us to understand "how to" do our our many roles we serve in this Earth right, we cannot skip pass what ought to be our first step...understand how and why we were created. Before we understand our spiritual giftedness, before we ask how to be a better "whatever" may we find out from The One Who created us, with what purpose in mind were we created, male or female.

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26

Day Four, Week One...here I come!! Only Week One!?!?! It's gonna be good!!! :)