...With Puzzles

I've recently learned to love puzzles! I helped a woman finish one recently and it was fun to sit back and admire how well all the pieces fit together. I looked at all the little pieces that had given me trouble and chuckled to myself. After it was all done it made sense, yet some of those pieces were so challenging and didn't seem to fit anywhere!

The more I thought about those pieces the more I remembered the pieces of my life that don't seem to fit -- challenges that arise and trials I don't know why I went through.

We each can understand once we get to algebra why the basic 2+2 was an important thing to learn, and that concept applies with every lesson we learn. We get through trials and, later in life, realize just how important that particular challenge we had years ago prepared us for where we're at.

In essence we put together those puzzle pieces. But it's hard to see the full perspective with just one little piece. The Lord is able to see the whole image, put together, and knows what pieces to hand us.

We too can gain a glimpse of where and how the puzzle fits together as we turn to the scriptures. The Lord has given us the tools. He's given us the image on the box to look at for guidance. We can also pray and ask for the added guidance. Then someday we'll be able to lean back and say, "aw, so that's how that piece fits in..."

...With Sunglasses

I have received another challenge to relate the gospel of Jesus Christ to sunglasses. After a lot of careful consideration I came up with this. I hope my analogy appeases the challenger:

Sunglasses are nothing more than tinted glasses. The effect of sunglasses is that our eyes are overshadowed to the light, dimming, and sometimes even changing the colors of what we see around us. Christ has said "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12) Satan tries to deceive us. He overshadows our eyes, just like sunglasses, so that we can not see the true light, or the effects of the light. Until we take off the sunglasses, or disregard the temptations of Satan, we won't be able to see the beauty of the light of Christ.

...With Symbols of Christ

I'm a firm believer that everything points back to Christ. When I was about the age of fourteen I had a Sunday School teacher who challenged us to choose one thing that week and see how it pointed back to Christ. Her object was to show that everything we receive is to help us grow closer to Christ.

I remember wandering down the hallway at school looking at the lockers, the tiles, the backpacks, trying to understand how each item could relate back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I struggled to see how it was possible. How could everything  point to Christ? Then, as I was sitting on the swing at the park the challenge presented itself in my mind again. I looked at a tree and noticed how the branches pointed upward -- towards Christ. A tree grew up towards God! I understood. Excited, I began to ponder about the swing I sat on and how that pointed to Christ. I swung higher and higher -- towards the heavens! I understood.

Later in life I had a friend who had served a mission. He told me of a game he and his companions used to play as they walked: relate any object back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He showed me some examples: the posts of a fence being those who support one another and keep that "fence" of the gospel up and a light pole being a beacon in the darkness like the gospel is for us through trying times.

Now, a missionary myself, I have fun playing the same sort of game. I love looking around me and seeing evidence that there is a God and that all things point to him. I love a challenge, so leave a comment; ask me to relate a particular object back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's see Christ in everyone and in everything!