Paint by numbers

So, have you ever wondered how all the pieces parts of our life fit together in our spiritual journey? I do.

I am currently working through some spiritual formation material....one of the quotes that I ran across was this: "God has a holy will that draws every fragment of our lives into a beautiful mosaic of faith."

This caught my attention....just last night I was watching a Samantha Brown's travel show. She was visiting a city in Europe and she went to a shop that specialize in mosaics. Samantha was learning how to make a mosaic. She started with a drawing of a flower. Next, she began to break off pieces of glass....painstakingly breaking the right shade of color of the glass into the right shape and size....creating thousands of fragments of glass which she then began to place within the lines of the drawing. She asked the master why he spends so much time to make a mosaic instead of just painting the picture. He replied, "Look at the grand frescoes that were painted hundreds of years ago. The paint is fading, the color disappearing. But a mosaic made at the same time is still as vibrant and full of color as the day it was made. A mosaic does not fade. The beauty lasts."

Wow....so God prefers to create in a mosaic. He draws a grand outline....and instead of allowing me to quickly paint within the lines....using a brush to apply the color in one continuous stroke....instead.....He lets me create fragments....each one a different size and shape and color......and He is able to take the fragmented pieces of my life...each one just a fragmented piece on its own....but placed together....in His grand outline for my life.....and it is a beautiful piece of art that will not fade.