10 and 60

 

 

Last Saturday was one of my friends’ kids’ birthdays.

He turned 10.

Throughout the day, in honor of his birthday,

He asked for simple wishes:

Can I wear sweatpants instead of jeans?

Can I play an internet game in the car?

Can I have a Snickers bar?

His wishes were granted.

 

As he and his big brother were preparing for bed,

Big brother, suddenly wanted a cheese stick.

My friend was hesitant because of Big Brother’s habit of doing this.

But then Birthday Boy said:

Can I have one more wish for my birthday?

My friend asked what it was.

Birthday Boy asked if his brother could have a cheese stick to close out the day.

 

Needless to say, Big Brother got a cheese stick,

And Birthday Boy went to bed happy.

 

Today is my parents’ 60^th Anniversary.

I dare say that this birthday story explains how they’ve stayed together so long:

It’s give and take,

It’s push and pull,

It’s asking and receiving,

It’s looking after self and others,

It’s celebrating small victories,

It’s smiling,

It’s changing ones’ mind,

And it’s honoring one another.

 

Today, I am thankful for my 10-year-old friend and all that he teaches me.

And I am thankful for my 60-year-married parents and everything that they are.

 

Amen.

 

PS. My mom and I often quote our 10-year-old friend when doing puzzles. He was over at the house many months ago, working on a puzzle, when he said to me: “Do you know how I found that piece?” I said, “How?” He said, “I saw this tiny little detail.” From that point forward, my mom and I began using “the tiny little detail” philosophy to help us with our puzzles 😊.  

Chunk Makers

Yesterday, my mom and I completed a 1500-piece puzzle that my brother gave my mom for Christmas. We completed the puzzle over the course of just three days, which is rather quick, but we were able to do so because the puzzle manufacturer allowed us to cheat.

Usually, when we do a puzzle, we first sort by outside pieces and either shape or picture color. We then lay out the pieces by shape, complete the outer border, and go from there.

But this puzzle had a color organization system. The backs of all of the pieces were either orange, blue, gold, yellow, or purple, so as we sorted, we sorted not by shape or picture color but by the color on the back. After we’d put together the outer edge, we then worked on one section of the puzzle at a time—thus making a seemingly impossible task of completing one 1500 piece puzzle a more reasonable task of completing five smaller puzzles of varying sizes.

Breaking the puzzle into little chunks made it less daunting and more doable.

Isn’t that how life is, friends? If we were to step back and look at our to-do lists in their entirety, then I imagine that we would become easily overwhelmed. Even when our immediate tasks are complete, we have long-term goals that often to hang over us like the clouds hanging over the earth today.

But when we break down the list into smaller chunks, it seems less daunting and more doable.

When we break down life into smaller chunks, it seems less overwhelming and more livable.

May we each be chunk-makers this year and live our lives in such a way that we are not completely overwhelmed by the complexity of its puzzle but that we are certain that its puzzle can be done one piece at a time.