In Shape

There is something amusing about watching a small child trying to force a square wooden block into a circle shaped hole. We can contribute their action to a lack of fine motor skills, or the fact that their overall world-wise experience has been short lived. It doesn’t matter how much brute force the child applies to the toy; we know it just ain’t gonna happen.
The comical side to this act dissipates when we see the same action in grown ups. At some level, it does seem like a page out of The Far Side, but deep down we feel “That person should have known better.”
I went up to a cash register last week to purchase a CD. After I dug inside of my purse I retrieved, and proudly presented, a $10 gift card that I had been counting on to acquire the music in my hand. The cashier glanced at it and said “This is a Borders Gift Card”. It took me a second, but suddenly I realized I was standing in a Barnes and Nobles... not Borders. With a Wallace and Grommit grin, I over enthusiastically said “Right!”, and fumbled to quickly stick the card back into my purse. I haven’t ordered an Egg McMuffin at a Burger King as of yet, but I managed to do something equivalent to that.
I have been doing some nail biting lately about what steps to take next with my life. It seems like there are oodles of pieces to fit together and I have no idea how they are supposed to go. I know nail biting isn’t the answer, and brute force probably isn’t the answer either, but I’m running out of time to decide what I am going to do.
For some reason this morning, the story of Abraham’s servant came to mind. Before setting out on his journey to help old Abe find Isaac a wife, he asked the Lord to grant his mission success. And “Ah ha!” the Lord brought along Rebecca, and she watered the camels and everything! The servant still had to make the journey to get to Rebecca’s neighborhood, which probably contained its own perils along the way. The servant still had to take the time to scope out the watering hole and step up and ask his scripted question, but the whole series of events appear like God answered the servant’s request in a very deliberate and clear way.
I suppose the Lord allows some details to seamlessly fall into place. The pieces of Phoenix School of Law, Turkish Schools with art teacher openings, health issues, questions about whether I’m going to be single for the rest of my life, my current job and living situation: these all do not require my brute force baby efforts to “fix” them. I still have to make the journey, I suppose, but there is no use in trying to hammer square pegs into round holes. …After all, this isn’t Borders.