My daughters and I were working on a very complicated jigsaw puzzle. It was no ordinary puzzle. To begin, we read a short, suspenseful two-page "thriller" for clues (in "read-in-the-mirror" writing). We were then to assemble the puzzle and search for hidden clues, and then finish off by solving the mystery with the clues from the first two steps. The warning on the box read, "Beware! The puzzle image is not what you see on the box!" This was going to be a challenge!

As is our custom when working puzzles, we first completed the frame of edge pieces. Then the tricky work began — we had to put the pieces in place without a "final product" picture to follow. Each piece belonged in a particular space, and did not fit anywhere else — no matter how we might try to manipulate the pieces. And we tried that, often — without much success.

We persevered for many days, doing a little bit at a time. We took "baby steps"; we made giant leaps forward. All the manoeuvring of the pieces came to the fruition of our goal — a totally finished puzzle. The puzzle picture was revealed to us!

Have there been times when your Christian walk has felt like a puzzle without a visible solution? I've been there!

The girls and I had to have patience; we had to take our time. We had to have faith that the three of us working together could put the seemingly unrelated pieces together in a semblance of order that would reveal the truth and the completion of the puzzle, for us.

God is with us, leading us, directing us, as we seek to learn more about Him and our life with Him. Each portion and piece of our life has a place where the fit is perfect, and we can finally understand what the message or solution from God is.

Thanks be to God for His wonderful plan for each of us. Thank God for eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to help, and hearts full of patience and love.

Prayer: Lord, You have been our guide through all the days of our lives. Help us to continue to see where we fit in, in Your plan, doing Your work and Your will in the world. Amen.

I have been an elder in my church for twenty years, but recently, becoming a Jazzercise fitness instructor has given me new insights into my role.

Much advance preparation went into the learning of routines for the audition/examination. There were so many things to remember to relate to the students, as the leader: the moves themselves, the cueing that assists the students in being able to follow the transitions between movements for effectiveness and safety, monitoring the level of intensity, noting which muscle groups were being engaged.

As a student, I took a lot of this for granted. I looked up to the instructor on stage as a role model, for guidance, for encouragement, for enthusiasm, and for direction. I imitated what the instructor did.

When I made the transition from student to instructor, I realized what an important role the instructor has and what a critical function that person serves.

In the church, there are people we look up to as role models of exemplary Christians — ministers, missionaries, long-standing and long-serving people in the congregation — those "pillars" of the church. We want to imitate the behaviour, the lifestyle, and the Christian love of those leaders, our "instructors", through whom we see the light of Christ shining.

Leaders in the church, both ruling elders and teaching elders, need to be reminded that people are looking to us — for guidance and direction. They look for us to show them the combination of "steps" to take in the dance of life that leads us and draws us closer to the triune God, in our daily walk on the Christian path.

Dance the dance of life! As leaders, know that others are following our lead!

Prayer: "'Follow me,' the Master said." May we be His followers, and His leaders, as we have been called by God to be. Help us, Lord, to serve You in faith, truth, and love. Amen.

A recent incident that occurred recently near Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A., brought this scripture to mind.

The winds were beginning to blow heavily, and a couple were sea kayaking in the rough (and increasingly stormy) waters of Lake Superior. They were neophyte kayakers, unaware of, and unable to cope with, the changing lake and weather conditions. They were totally unprepared for an emergency on the water. They weren't even wearing wetsuits or drysuits, and they weren't equipped with sea skirts for their small vessels.

Their inability to know and to work with their small crafts, or to deal quickly with the wind and changing temperature conditions, caused them to be blown away from the safety of the shore. As they struggled to steer to the safe haven of the land, they were drawn further away in the opposite direction and tossed into the unpredictable and unmanageable stormy seas.

The couple didn't venture out into the storm knowingly; they were supposed to be on a relaxing recreational paddle. They were caught without warning, and were in danger.

The couple couldn't be saved; they perished. They were completely unprepared to deal with that day's stormy conditions.

We, as Christians, need to be prepared for life's storms, so that we can survive, endure, transcend whatever difficulties blow our way.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you are our anchor, our rock, our stronghold, our strength, in all the storms of our lives. You equip us to stand firm, and to live in you. Amen.

We have lived in our house for seventeen years. The second summer we were here (we moved at the very end of summer), a tree in the front yard did a strange thing. It blossomed with glorious pink flowers, and when it was finished flowering, it looked like it had died. The trunk had mossy growth, and the leaves curled and then fell off, leaving a grey, stick-like "thing" behind. This happened for several years, and my father-in-law insisted that the tree was dead, and should be cut down. I could not figure out why this was happening, as every spring the tree would burst back to life, and the dormant phase would come after the flowers were done. My husband thought the tree was dying, and he, too, wanted to remove it from the yard.

I persisted. I just couldn't understand why such a beautiful show of flowers would reappear yearly on a dead tree.

The tree was never dead. It is fully alive, with an outward show of colourful abundance, and a cycle when it appears to be dormant. But it is still growing and maturing, even if I can't see it happening. It has, over the years, developed into a beautiful, full tree.

I guess we're all like that, as we grow in faith, and in God's love. As I get older, I understand this much better than when I was younger. There is a season for everything, and everything happens in God's time, on His timetable. What happens to us in our faith journey also takes time, energy, and outward changes that can be seen, like seasons of growth, and quiet seasons of seeming dormancy, when nothing seems to be happening. He gives us the gift of time, to grow and develop as His people, and for that we are truly thankful.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of flowering trees, and for the inward changes and the outward expressions of development that all come in Your time. May we continue to be growing and flourishing for You in all the stages and seasons of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.