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God\u2019s plans for our children are like a puzzle larger than any Sandy Ramsey-Trayvick has ever completed. In today\u2019s post she describes how putting together jigsaw puzzles had shown her to trust in God\u2019s plans for her kids.<\/em><\/p>\n I began doing jigsaw puzzles again while we were sheltering in place during the COVID pandemic. As I got back into my reactivated hobby, I remembered what I\u2019d always enjoyed about putting them together. I loved watching the emergence of the picture or landscape as it was slowly revealed with the addition of each new piece. Of course, it was no surprise to see the picture revealed; I knew it was already there waiting to be displayed. However, knowing the picture was already there didn\u2019t take away from the pleasure of its revelation.<\/p>\n God\u2019s plan for our children\u2014the potential he has placed uniquely in each of them to help move his kingdom forward\u2014comes in pieces. Like a puzzle.<\/strong> And he provides our kids with opportunities and experiences for those pieces to come together\u2014step-by-step, one piece at a time. The Lord already knows the picture he wants to reveal, yet he requires us to trust him with what it will look like.<\/strong> We don\u2019t get to decide what his planned outcome for our kids will be; he does. However, we do get to participate in the picture\u2019s emergence as we help our children step into the opportunities and experiences he provides.<\/p>\n The most challenging puzzles for me are the ones which include varieties of shapes and sizes in the puzzle pieces\u2014no two exactly the same. Some of the pieces are so oddly shaped that it appears initially they\u2019d fit nowhere. Yet, each piece of the puzzle, even those with the most convoluted shapes and unexpected sizes, is needed to complete the final picture. One of my greatest puzzling pleasures is discovering the spaces where those hard-to-fit pieces actually belong.<\/p>\n Though Scripture promises each of us that God has a good plan for our lives, it can be challenging to understand how a particularly difficult circumstance or a long, hard season could ever contribute to something good. These are the puzzle pieces that seem initially like they\u2019d never fit anywhere in God\u2019s good<\/em> plan.<\/strong> And they may continue to look that way for a while, until more of the picture, the plan, emerges.<\/p>\n There is a process involved in putting jigsaw puzzles together<\/strong> that must be followed in order for the correct picture to be displayed. Each puzzle piece has to be added at the right time. Some pieces won\u2019t fit into the puzzle until other pieces are in place first\u2014to create the connection to the rest of the puzzle. If we try to circumvent the process by forcing pieces into places where they don\u2019t actually fit or if we leave out pieces we don\u2019t like, the finished puzzle will not reflect the intended outcome.<\/strong> In fact, the finished product will look wrong and confusing. Yet when we adhere to the process of adding each piece at the point when it can be connected to other pieces, the beauty and purpose of each piece becomes evident and clear.<\/p>\n God\u2019s plans for our children are like a puzzle. He adheres to his process of revealing his plan for our children and so must we.<\/strong> When pieces of our child\u2019s life don\u2019t seem like they could ever fit into something good, we can trust God to provide the opportunities and experiences for every piece to come together at the right time for something beautiful to emerge.<\/strong><\/p>\n We are confident that God is able <\/em>to orchestrate everything Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the monthly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#b4dbc0″ custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiJCeSAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZGlzcGxheV9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9uIiwibGlua19kZXN0aW5hdGlvbiI6ImF1dGhvcl9hcmNoaXZlIn19@” image=”https:\/\/differentdream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Sandy-Ramsey-Trayvick-231205.jpg” icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”100px” content_max_width=”800px” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _dynamic_attributes=”title” header_font=”Rubik|500|||||||” header_text_color=”#44465f” header_font_size=”14px” header_line_height=”32px” body_font=”Rubik||||||||” body_text_color=”rgba(0,6,69,0.6)” body_link_text_color=”#ffffff” custom_css_main_element=”font-weight: 400;” border_radii_image=”on|100px|100px|100px|100px” border_color_all_image=”#ffffff” box_shadow_style_image=”preset1″ box_shadow_vertical_image=”20px” box_shadow_blur_image=”40px” box_shadow_color_image=”rgba(68,70,95,0.27)” image_max_width=”100px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Sandy and her husband of 34 years live in NJ and have 3 young adult children. She became a special needs mom, caregiver and advocate 24 years ago, after a childhood illness left her son multiply disabled.<\/p>\n Sandy works now as a Certified Professional Coach with a desire to help other special needs parents move forward into the powerful story that God wants to write through their family\u2019s unique special needs journey.<\/p>\n Sandy is also a writer and speaker, a community group leader for other special needs moms, and a frequent podcast guest. She has just released her first book, When Dreams Are Disrupted<\/em> \u2013 A Story of God\u2019s Faithfulness<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n You can learn more about Sandy, her work and her blog on her website: www.UNDisabledLIVES.org<\/a> and on IG (@undisabled_lives<\/a>).<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#42313A” button_bg_color=”#EBDCB2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_comments][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_direction=”159deg” background_color_gradient_stops=”#42313A 0%|#EBDCB2 100%” background_color_gradient_start=”#42313A” background_color_gradient_end=”#EBDCB2″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” border_width_all=”3px” border_color_all=”#1c1259″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”100%” max_width=”100%” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”25px|0px|5px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ module_class=”horizontal_optin_column_1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_text_align=”right” header_text_color=”#45107a” header_3_font=”Dancing Script|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#B4DBC0″ header_3_font_size=”45px” custom_margin=”10px||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_signup mailchimp_list=”JolenePhilo|89f719a52b” layout=”bottom_top” first_name_fullwidth=”off” last_name_field=”off” email_fullwidth=”off” module_class=”custom_emailoptin” _builder_version=”4.16″ form_field_focus_background_color=”#42313A” background_enable_color=”off” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”16px” button_text_color=”#42313A” button_bg_color=”#B4DBC0″ button_border_width=”2px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_font=”|||on|||||” button_use_icon=”off” button_custom_margin=”5px||||false|false” button_custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” border_width_all_fields=”2px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_signup][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”EB Garamond|600|||||||” header_text_color=”#B6452C” header_font_size=”50px” header_text_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blog fullwidth=”off” posts_number=”3″ include_categories=”current” show_more=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ header_text_color=”#42313A” meta_font=”||on||||||” read_more_font=”|||on|||||” read_more_text_color=”#B6452C” read_more_font_size=”12px” pagination_text_color=”#B6452C” pagination_font_size=”20px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blog][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God\u2019s plans for our children are like a puzzle larger than any Sandy Ramsey-Trayvick has ever completed. In today\u2019s post she describes how putting together jigsaw puzzles had shown her to trust in God\u2019s plans for her kids. I began doing jigsaw puzzles again while we were sheltering in place during the COVID pandemic. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[3559,3615,3561,3583],"tags":[4244,583,4245,4246,4201],"class_list":["post-43891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-different-dream","category-encouragement","category-special-needs-parenting","category-spiritual-support","tag-gods-plan","tag-hope","tag-providence","tag-puzzle","tag-sandy-ramsey-trayvick"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/em>to work toward something good and beautiful
<\/em>when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.
<\/em>Romans 8:28 (The Voice)<\/em><\/p>\nSubscribe for Updates from Jolene<\/h3>\n
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