A Place & A Purpose
We all have a purpose…
mangled bits and all.
Today we had the opportunity to help my parents prepare for winter by splitting and stacking firewood. I was tasked with the stacking portion and truth be told, it’s one of my favorite chores. I’d stack wood over doing dishes any day! Not only do you get the instant satisfaction of a completed task but it’s like a puzzle and I’ve always enjoyed puzzles. Not the ones that no one can figure out or that take ages, more like the ones that are challenging but you can let your mind wander while doing them too…(hence this blog post).
The hum of the log splitter drowned out any conversations being had and I began thinking about how each piece of wood seems to have a place in the stack. I picked up a couple that had just been split. Both pieces were jagged, one in the shape of a Y and the other a large piece of a branch sticking out from the side. I smirked and hollered at my husband and dad “You’re really testing my stacking skills with these!” They laughed and my husband replied with his tactic of keeping those pieces to the side and just putting them on the top. I gave him a smile and a “challenge accepted” kind of look.
Personally I don’t adopt his strategy. I believe there is a place for each mangled piece in the stack. If you’re patient enough and you pay attention to the gaps or how the previous piece is angled or twisted one way, you’ll see the perfect spot to place your “misfit.” You may have to flip it over a few times, try a couple different spots but eventually you’ll feel it lock into place.
Every single piece got worked into the stack, finding its place and its purpose. Destined to crumble if all the pieces kept angling forward, slowly sliding until all that work, time and effort gets negated. The pieces were too similar! They needed an anchor. They needed something a little mangled, rough and maybe misshapen to hold it up, make it sturdier.
I believe we are put on this earth to not only work together, but hold each other up. We don’t always fit into the first place we’re put but it doesn’t mean we don’t have a purpose. Be patient, believe you’re that important piece destined to make everyone around you stronger, mangled bits and all.
