The Perfect Fit

Have you worked on a puzzle lately? If so, you know the challenge. Pieces come in unique shapes and sizes. One piece can sport more colors than a box of Crayola crayons. When I spread out the 1500 pieces of a puzzle of National Parks complete with critters all over the dining room table, I wondered if an insanity gene popped into my head.

But this puzzle taught me a valuable life lesson to share.

Countless times I grabbed up a puzzle piece and thought I knew exactly where it went. Confident of the perfect fit, I hate to admit defeat. But I was wrong more often than I was right.

And I thought about my life.

Recently, I took on a role I thought would be a perfect fit. I didn’t meet expectations. Despite all my heartfelt effort and time, incompetence outweighed my good intentions. Truth hurts. Truth simply said, the perfect fit was not me.
So when this realization hits us, and it hits us all, what are our choices?

Self-destructive rejection review

We can replay scenes of disappointment and pain from our personal stash of miserable memory moments. Pull on the coat of worthlessness and sing songs of pity. The number one hit is in the archives of our minds. Remember this tune? "Nobody wants me. Everybody hates me, I think I'll go eat worms."
Definitely not a healthy or appetizing approach to the lack of perfection. Let's abandon this choice. Worms aren't on the menu.
Instead, consider this truth—No one is perfect.

Self-acceptance: Lack of perfection is perfectly normal.

No human is perfect. We don’t need to be good at everything. Many of us strive to be competent and helpful. No one enjoys harsh judgment and failure.

Yet, we need to learn to fail with grace and accept our shortcomings.

This thing called humility is quite a virtue to embrace.

God Designed the Perfect Fit.

God holds the lid with the complete picture. He designed the puzzle. He created each one of us with a specific shape and colorful gifts. Only He knows where I fit perfectly. Only He is the Master of Perfection. He sees our hearts and often moves us, to place us exactly where we can complete His puzzle and do the most good and give Him glory. I have learned this lesson all through my life.

In a locked closet-like office a co-worker threatened to shoot me dead. The stress and heartache that followed caused me to leave a job I loved.
A place where I knew, I was a perfect fit.

Work became unbearable, so I transferred to the heart unit. Over time I learned, God moved me. I became competent as a cardiac nurse and when my father-in-law recovered from open-heart surgery, he and his wife came to our home. I took care of him with ease.

Instead of trying to place my piece into God's puzzle, I am learning to let Him place my piece to give me peace. Whatever puzzle he needs me to complete.
Whatever shape He needs to trim me into is fine with me. He truly knows how to make us the perfect fit for His purpose in this crazy puzzle called life!

Thanking the Lord for His perfect plan. He is such a marvelous Father who chooses to take imperfect people and turn them into a perfect fit to complete the work He has already begun!
Loving you this month and always,
Dr. Donna