Lessons from the Lodge

Today is my husband's birthday, and we've been stressed on all fronts lately. I wanted him to just rest from everything, mentally and physically, so we both took off work Monday and we booked a room at the Abe Martin Lodge in Brown County State Park. Our phones won't work here -- a lovely problem...most of the time. This particular time, not so much!

The Courtyard Outside Our Room at the Abe Martin Lodge

On the way home from church yesterday, our car started to overheat, so we left it in the driveway for our mechanic to could come get it. We called him on the way to Brown County and found he couldn't do it. Found another mechanic (thank you Facebook friends), but by then we were at our destination, and... phones don't work here. Finally got a signal, called, got an answering machine; it's pointless to leave a message when you can't receive a call, right?

Lesson One:  Be still and know that He is God. He's not surprised; He has a plan; it's going to be okay.
Lesson Two:  Our problems are small compared to the weight of eternity.
Lesson Three:  Our problems are small compared to the sorrows of others. Friends of ours have a funeral service today for their daughter, whose life was senselessly cut short at the hands of another. I cannot imagine. Pray for the Frazers if you read this post today.

Back at the lodge, we generally enjoy working puzzles. They occupy our minds and keep us from dwelling on the worrisome things in life. It's something we do together that brings satisfaction and enjoyment. We especially love to work puzzles in front of the fireplace at the Abe Martin Lodge.

Mike Working a Puzzle at the Abe Martin Lodge

This particular time, we found three open boxes hiding on a shelf of a coffee table in the lounge area. All three looked like a hodge-podge of various puzzles, and you could tell that not all the pieces belonged together. One of them especially piqued my interest, but it was an open box with no lid and  no picture. I had no idea what the finished puzzle would look like, or if we even had all the pieces; after all, it was a lidless box!

We rummaged around and found pieces that looked like our puzzle in all three open boxes, gathered them together in one spot, hoped for the best, and began putting together a mystery picture. We started at 8:00 PM and rang in my husband's birthday was a finished product around 2:00 AM. In the end, we found some pieces were damaged, and a few were missing, but altogether, the finished product was truly beautiful!

Lesson Four:  Mike and I both commented on the parallels between the puzzle and our lives in Christ. We went seeking the missing puzzle pieces, found them, redeemed them from their lost positions, put them together--even the damaged ones--and made something beautiful. Does that sound a little like what God does for us?

We couldn't see what the outcome was going to be, but one piece led to the next, and we just kept putting them together until suddenly we had something that made sense. God has a plan, and He knows where all the pieces fit, even though we don't. Our job is to just keep putting the next piece in place, until one day it all makes sense, knowing that the pieces WILL fit because God orchestrated them that way. If one is missing, it's not because God made it that way; it's because we were willful and careless. But that doesn't keep Him from finishing His beautiful work in us.

Now it's time to leave the lodge and go home. It's okay. We're ready to let God finish His work in us.

Our Finished Work