Puzzles

The other day my daughter, Julia and I started a 500 piece puzzle. We have a rectangular piece of plywood that we work on so that we can put the puzzle away from little hands while we are not working on it.
This particular puzzle was of a farm, complete with a beautiful barn, silo, fence and even a herd of scattered cows. We had completed the outline of the puzzle and then gotten the barn, fence and cows done. All that was left was the sky. Most definitely the hardest part of the puzzle since all the pieces were the same cloudy blue color!
We had put the puzzle on the counter in our dining room during quiet time with the hope of finishing it later that afternoon. Everyone was in there rooms and I was engrossed in a book that my mom had passed on. Matt came down and asked if he could get a drink. I said ok, barely lifting my eyes from the page. (I tend to get my nose in a book and become somewhat less than attentive to the world around me!)
After quiet time was over, I heard Julia exclaim, "Oh no! What happened to our puzzle?" Immediately I knew what had happened. Matt must have gotten more that just a drink of water earlier. He has a knack for getting into things, and I guess that he couldn't stand just seeing that puzzle just sitting there!
I told Julia that I was sorry and that I would speak to Matt when he woke up. Then I tried to persuade her to just put the puzzle away. After all we did finish most of it, right? Her response keeps coming back to me over and over again. "But Mom, we didn't get to see the whole picture yet! It's so pretty when you get to see it all finished."
How many times have I been content to only see most of the picture? I feel like I am content sometimes to get a glimpse of the finished project without waiting to fill in those missing pieces that will make it complete.
How often do I do this with my family? Sometimes the things are unimportant such as not cleaning up all the way after dinner - hey, I cooked it didn't I? - or not putting the clean clothes away when they are finished - hey, I washed and folded them, right?
What about the important things? Do I leave them unfinished? Am I content to not take action every single time that one of my kids is out of line? Will this really effect the "main picture" of their lives? Am I content to just listen to my husband pray for the family or am I joining with him in praying for the souls of our precious children?
Those few handfuls of missing pieces could be the very pieces that make my life or the lives of my husband or children complete! Sometimes the things that we see as unimportant are the very things that God intends to use to further His kingdom! These could seem like small things like taking one of your kids shopping with you even though you can do it faster by yourself, just so you can have a chance to talk one on one with that particular child or choosing to play a game with your kids instead of watching TV or reading a book.
Don't get me wrong - time invested in your children is not a small thing! I am just trying to look at it like the pieces of a puzzle. Each piece is so small, yet, without those little pieces, the picture is not complete!
I don't want to get the puzzle most of the way done, only to stop at the hard part - when all the pieces are the same color. I want to persevere until I can see the beauty of the finished work of art. After all, are our lives not a work of art created by our wonderful, loving Savior?
God, help me not to be content to just get a glimpse of Your finished work before seeing the completed picture!