Working Together

I had hoped to not miss a day of writing during the Lenten Season. But, ahhh, it happened. Though I love to write, I had to put my family first. My teenage daughter was in a few choir concerts, as well as the two of us having the chore of putting together a portfolio needed for a specific scholarship. We were honored she had been nominated for the $500 award, knowing it could lead to a second scholarship of $1000, but knew we had some work ahead of us in order to meet deadlines of turning everything in. We thought we were through putting together her portfolio a week ago, but we were asked to fine tune it a bit, including adding a table of contents to the portfolio. Though worn out from the work, it was well worth it, hoping the scholarship comes through.
It was also fun to create the portfolio. For years, I have stored up those beautiful scrapbook sheets sold in the craft stores. I kept thinking that at some time, I would use them to create something wonderful. I had also collected various stickers and packages of alphabet letters, all in different fonts, envisioning that one day, I would create a masterpiece. Now, I had my chance to use those stocked up supplies.
My 18 year old and I worked beautifully as we compiled page after page of projects, awards and activities. For years, she had stored everything in a big notebook, dropping something into the book every time she had a new momento. There was no rhyme or reason to this file. It is the same file system I have had for all of those photos we took of our children at different stages of their lives. It was fun, as memories stirred viewing each item, placing pieces in a particular pile, according to the activity and the year it happened.
We were ready to begin, having the paper cutter, scissors, glue, markers, pens, stickers and a mass array of beautifully colored sheets surrounding us. On went the music as we set to work. What a great team we made. I was amazed how alike we were in our creativity, adding borders, headlines and stickers to surround the subject matter of that particular page. We worked on separate sheets in silence, with only the music in the background. But, at the same time, we were together, as one unit, aiming toward one goal.
It made me think of the passage in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: ‘The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or fee-and we were all given the one spirit, to drink.’ We all continue in our lives to be separate, yet, we all continue to join together as one. We had numerous pieces of a life, yet were able to be united as one at the end of our masterpiece. My daughter and I may be years apart age wise, yet, we continue to be one, with the same idea, of wanting to serve others. How true this is, across the continents. We may think we are different from one another, but under the eyes of God, we are the same. We want to be there for one another, through many different means, whether it be through words, actions or song.
It was a special time for the two of us, as we relived the memories of the past, while still working toward the present, which will continue to aid us in our future. God continues to show us how life is intertwined, with the past, the present and future all working together. Let us thank Him, for all that He continues to give us, no matter the stage of life we are in.