Puzzling Relationships
Thank you to everyone who took a break over the course of the past week to sit down and work the crossword puzzle I posted last week. I thought it would be a cool, creative way to share a few fun facts while encouraging us all to take a break from our hectic schedules.
When I created this innocent little puzzle, I in no way expected any type of revelation to come from it. But, for those of you who know my Father, you know He’ll use just about anything He can to speak to us – including a crossword puzzle.
As the days went by, I’d get a few comments here and there from different people. And that’s when I started to notice the differences in how people were choosing to approach this puzzle. Here’s how I would group the common themes that I noticed.
The Procrastinators – These were the ones who thought this was a great idea but never got back around to actually doing the puzzle.
The Perfectionists – These are the ones who are waiting for the perfect time and place to sit down in the perfect spot with their favorite beverage of choice so they can work the puzzle in one sitting.
The Problem-Solvers – These are the ones who are still trying to figure out how to get this puzzle off their phone or computer screen so they can then figure out how many words they can find.
The Party-Poopers – These are the ones with no time to slow down, take a break, or have fun. They opened the email, saw a crossword puzzle, noticed there was nothing to read or to listen to, and they closed it out and never looked back.
The Puzzle-Enthusiasts – These are the people who got excited just by seeing the crossword puzzle. It didn’t even matter what the purpose of it was. They just were thrilled to have another puzzle to work on.
The Performance-Driven – These are the people who not only worked the puzzle but found all kinds of words that have absolutely nothing to do with things I love, appreciate, or enjoy. Now, anytime you create a crossword puzzle there will always be unintentional words formed. And after seeing all the additional words they found, I now may have to do another challenge to see who can figure out which of the things were intentional or just inadvertent.
The Perpetual-Comparers – These are the people who automatically ruled themselves out because they knew other people would find more words than them. Therefore, they concluded that what they could do would not be good enough.
The Pain-Avoiders – These are the people who were going to work the puzzle until they opened it up and noticed there was no word bank.
The Prize-Seekers – These are the people who after realizing I rewarded everyone who participated, are currently beating themselves up about the fact that they didn’t submit their puzzle.
The People-Lovers – Finally, these are those who did the puzzle simply because, as one person shared with me, “It’s been so fun getting to know you like cheesecake and milkshakes!”
Sometimes, developing relationships may be a lot like doing a crossword puzzle. It may take some time and it may not always be easy. But don’t put it off. Don’t expect everything to be perfect. Don’t try to fix them, compete with them, or compare yourself to them. Don’t just seek to find out things about them that benefit you. Instead, choose to genuinely love them. And when they upset you, instead of spewing out all kinds of cross words to them, choose the words Jesus spoke while He was on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” If we choose to do these few simple things, I’m sure we’d find greater joy in even our most puzzling relationships.
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