JULY THE MISSING PIECE

 July is my favorite month.     

RED, WHITE and BLUE is my theme all summer but especially this month.

I’m taking time to linger in the garden which is amazingly gorgeous this year.

I’m taking time to read and take walks even though the temps and humidity are high.

Rain gives some relief but early morning hours are the best time to accomplish anything outside.

All the pieces of my summer seem to fit nicely into our continuous activities with visitors and friends.

This summer we have had to ‘re-learn’ socializing in person!

I never realized that, for hubby and me, who did not suffer from the isolation of Covid, getting together with people takes practice.

We have to clean up the clutter and figure out what to eat.

Food is central to hospitality.

I make scones and give them away by the dozens but actually fixing a nice meal where we can linger between healthy courses takes practice.

It’s almost like putting a puzzle together and finding there is one missing piece.  This summer I actually took time to form a 1000 piece puzzle on our dining room table [wrong place if you are entertaining].  There was one piece I could not find until I removed the cushion of one chair as I was dusting.  Voila!  My heart, at last felt peace.

A few weeks later I decided to try another puzzle.  Although only 500 pieces, it seemed more difficult.  It had been in the box about twenty years so perhaps the way pieces were cut back then were more challenging?  Indeed, any excuse will do for lingering a little longer with this one.  This time I used a table in our basement rec room so it would not impede any entertaining.  Alas, this puzzle also had a missing piece . . .  which I have yet to find!!!  It’s missing from a less prominent place than  in the other puzzle but each time I look at the puzzle my eye goes right to the empty space.

So, I began to wonder.  Why is the empty space more important than the incredible feat of completing two puzzles when I have not worked any puzzle in years?  Why doesn’t my eye focus on the lovely picture, the intricate placement of tiny cardboard pieces or simply the sense of accomplishment I should feel?

This focus on the ‘empty space’ seems to be a metaphor for life.  Hubby and I give thanks daily for all we have.  We give glory to God for our incredible life, our health, our faith and the protection and guidance we feel as we walk with Christ.  We bubble over with blessings each day as we read scripture together and read a meditation that unpacks a chosen verse.

We have all we could ever want, are busy enough to feel satisfied at the end of each day, and have amazingly good health.

Yet, we have dreams and unmet expectations that still seem to linger deep in our souls.  I’d love to travel to Europe again but there are some very realistic roadblocks that keep us from doing so at this point in our lives.  Overnight trips to familiar destinations seem to be all we can handle right now.  No complaints here.  Just a reality check.  This ‘empty space’ is filled up with travel documentaries readily available to us via the internet.

I think of friends I have not seen in years.  We all live so far away now.

Yet, Zoom and phone calls have filled in those empty spaces.  There are those I may never see and then, unexpectedly, a few are ‘in the neighborhood.’  Last winter unexpected guests took a vacation thousands of miles from their home and we lingered over a long meal together and hours of chat.

There is a book I’d like to write.  Perhaps it’s an unmet goal that I set decades ago.  Although I do not ache over the idea, I have yet to ‘check the box.’  Perhaps I’ll take the time some day but I have so many other goals to reach that are easy and very enjoyable.  I have piles of unread books which I’m tackling . . .  one book a week.  They feed my soul, tickle my intellect and a few even take me away into fantastic spaces.  My greatest challenge is finding enough ‘empty’ space to read each day but I make time as part of my daily schedule.

My greatest source of ‘empty space’ is the garden.  If I find too much dirt between plants I immediately want to plant something.  Our side yard is a result of years of expanded growth.  Every space is filled with colorful beauty, some tall bushes, some small perennials.  Each year is more glorious than the last.  It’s the sunny parts that take more work to keep spaces filled and alive with sun-loving blooms.  

And then there is the herb garden.  Spring shoots expand the oregano far beyond the perimeters of the brick path.  Cutting back bags full of Thyme, sage, oregano and so much more adds plenty to the larder but empties out the overgrowth that covers bald spots.  So, I add an annual for color . . .  which takes ages to grow . . .  then wilts because it should not have been planted in that space in the first place.  Oh well, so I have a ‘bald spot’ here and there.  I breathe deep and give myself credit for maintaining so many beauty-filled gardens.

It’s like maintaining rose bushes in July.  Impossible!  Japanese beetles fly from the meadow below toward the sweet smell of yellow, white and red roses.  Rains pound the white roses to pieces.  Beetles gather in mounds on the red roses.  The delicate yellow roses are the big prize for these appetite driven little beasts.  So, I fill my empty spaces of time popping these menaces into my suds-filled container.  Five here, one there, twelve at a time, fifty in an hour.  Three times a day for about three weeks I’m vigilant.  Then my roses are free to bloom the rest of the summer.  They fill the empty spaces of the garden with glorious beauty.

All in all, I do not suffer from seeing ‘empty spaces’ where I do not want them.  I’m simply aware and try to find solutions when I can.

Otherwise, I breathe deep, linger as I ponder and give thanks that I have such simple challenges to overcome.

The greatest empty space we enjoy now is retirement . . .  sort of.

We are busy helping others grow in Christ, listening to heartbreaking stories, loving people right where they are and helping others to deal with their own empty spaces.

Perhaps the next time I try to complete a puzzle I’ll count all the pieces before I start? I hope not.  That takes all the fun out of the process even if the task does not seem complete in the end.  

Life’s puzzles are what keeps us alive, keep us moving forward, as we seek to find answers or seek peace when the reality tells us we may never find the missing piece.  That’s OK.  That is part of our journey.

And we all know that it’s the journey that is so important.

As has been quoted so many times before.  It’s the ‘dash’ between birth date and the date of death that is our story.  The ‘empty space’ between these two dates is far too small to say anything.  Yet, it’s this empty space that is of the most importance.  

I thank God for the missing pieces in my life.

I thank God that I am still alive to fill in ‘empty’ spaces.

I thank God I can serve our Lord with gladness each day as He directs my journey.

I am thankful that hubby and I are a team who gains strength through the ‘third strand’ of our lives, our triune God. 

Through the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we keep moving through life, empty spaces and all, filling the missing pieces as our Lord directs.  

God is good.

Life is good.

We are good.

And we give thanks every single day for rest, blessings and outreach to others.

I know deep in my soul that the PEACE of God that surpasses all understanding will always fill the  those 'empty spaces' when I am unable to discern the missing piece.