If you’ve been reading my blog posts for very long, you’ve likely noticed I enjoy jigsaw puzzles. This summer I was given one of the most challenging ones I’ve ever done, and I wrote a post about that gift here.
I started putting this together more than three months ago (working mostly on weekends and skipping several weeks as I moved), and I am getting close to being finished. Yes, there is still quite a bit of open space in the middle, but the closer I get to the end, the faster that space seems to be filling up. For months, I’ve listened to the people marvel at my patience (or insanity) for not throwing the puzzle away, and all the while, I’ve looked forward to completing the challenge and seeing it all put together. I’ve imagined celebrating as I put the final piece in place, posting photos online and having others celebrate with me.
And now, with what I imagine will be one good weekend’s work on it, I will get to do those things, yet there is part of me that is hesitant to finish. I look forward each weekend to the time I spend working on this, and though there are other jigsaw puzzles, they are not the same. When I spend one or two days on something, it doesn’t seem a big deal to take it apart and start something new. But with months invested in this one puzzle, it will be a bit bittersweet to finish and dismantle it.
This has made me think once again of paradox. I think I have written about this before as well, but it is such a common (and often overlooked) part of life. Thanks to lessons taught to me years ago by a dear friend, I have a small collection of rubber ducks to teach this idea of paradox (pair-a-ducks) to young people.
A paradox is defined in the Cambridge dictionary as “a statement or situation that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts of characteristics.” I feel like that describes much of my life as I look back. The times I would identify as some of my best times – full of growth and seeing God move – were also some of the most difficult. My heart resides on multiple continents, so the excitement of being in one place always brings with it the sadness of not being in the other.
I know many people see 2020 as an awful year that has brought only trouble and heartbreak. It certainly hasn’t been the easiest year I remember, but I think as we look back, it may be a paradox. Perhaps we can begin, even now, to recognize some of the good things it brought along with its challenges. Some things I’ve enjoyed so far in 2020 are a slower pace of life, a new appreciation for friendships and being known, and new opportunities to serve and stretch myself beyond my comfort zone.
What are some of your good things from 2020?
