Is there something you enjoy today that you’ve loved your whole life? Maybe a food or a sport? From a young age, it was easy to see. This thing was made for you!

For my daughter, Hope, it’s books and puzzles.

I smile as I remember her on the floor. Books and puzzles spread all around her. She’d be deep into one or the other. So happy. So in her own little world. So Hope.

Reading Good Night Moon, Madeline, or anything Dr. Seuss with Hope on my lap are some of my favorite memories. Her love for books grew as she did. We read the whole series of Little House on the Prairie. The Chronicles of Narnia. We laughed. We cried. We anticipated. We totally bonded over our love for books.

Puzzles were a daddy/daughter thing. First it was shapes with her wooden puzzles. That girl was saying “trapezoid” before she was walking! 1000+ piece challenges became a thing. Oh, the hours spent piecing it all together.

Piece by piece. Word by word. Books and puzzles. They have a lot in common. Great attention to detail is needed for both.

Skip a word, you might not get the complete meaning. Bypass a chapter, you won’t fully understand the story. Miss a puzzle piece, your picture will be incomplete.

So much like life.

I think of these loves as I see them reflected on the tables at Hope’s wedding reception. Books and puzzles. Two staples in her life. It was clear from the beginning she loved them. It was clear from the beginning she loved him. He loves both things, too. Of course he does. It’s a perfect fit.

My book-loving, puzzle-pursuing little girl. Married. Oh life! I love how God brings it all together! In His timing. In His perfect way.

Now the story of their life begins. The pieces are coming together. Can’t wait to see the beautiful picture God is going to create!