ANSWERS TO THE PUZZLES! 3/3/13

A FEW YEARS ago, as Jim and I were taking our walk, I saw something glistening in the sun. I looked closer and found a small oval shaped pin. It had a loop for a chain and also a clasp so it could be pinned on. The date on it was 2007-2008. It had a name of a girl and also name and town of the store where it was made. It was an award pin and on the front it said; “Laura’s Wolf Pack”. Jim and I looked it over and then I put it in my pocket. As always a memory came to mind! I laughed in remembrance and shared this story with Jim.

WHILE in the 4th grade my friend Iona Kay and I would walk to and from school on a street that was a walking thoroughfare. No side walks! Lots of dirt and much trash filled the sides of the street. It was a residential area and in the center was a divider, that was a dirt mound with weeds and more trash. But it provided easy travel for cars traveling east and west. One afternoon walking home from school, besides stepping on the empty packages of ‘Lucky Strikes’ so we could save up our strikes to hit those we didn’t like, we found a piece of paper with some writing on it. Part of the message was missing and we were instantly intrigued. Of course we had read enough of Nancy Drew books to know a mystery when we saw one.

A PLAN began to formulate in our young minds and a club called “The Answers to the Puzzles” was created. We stood up in our 4th grade class the next day and introduced our idea and asked all those who would like to join, to meet in Iona Kay’s sunroom the following Tuesday after school, and we would begin looking for and solving puzzles. Brilliant idea! Or so we thought!

AT OUR first meeting, only a few close friends showed up. We paid our due’s which amounted to a few pennies and a nickle. If I remember rightly, I was the treasurer; Iona Kay the president and our sleuthing days began, but didn’t last!

HOWEVER, with the internet at hand I did a little sleuthing regarding the found pin. I am not handy with the internet but after 30 minutes or so I found the store that made the pin. I was so excited! For a little while I had mastered the internet, so I thought! The owner of the pin lived in Florida!

LIFE IS FULL of mysteries! To us God is a mystery! His son Jesus is a mystery! How our bodies die and yet we live, is a mystery! How a baby is formed in the mother’s womb and grows as a plant in a hot house and then knows when it is time to be born, is a mystery. How someone could love me to the exclusion of someone else, is a mystery! How when a man and wife can become one is a mystery! How those in Christ can stand firm and find peace in the midst of turmoil, is a mystery to the world! If you stop long enough and think of the mysteries of life, you could fill sheets and sheets with thoughts that are a mystery to you.

IN EPHESIANS Paul alludes to the mysteries of Christ. “And also pray for me that I may speak boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19   By faith we come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God! The mystery of two shall become one is revealed when Paul says; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-33   Christ is the groom and the church is His bride. Part of that mystery is that we are the church; we are the bride of Christ. We are united together as one!

WHEN I READ a book, I start with the end. I love mysteries but I want to know who did it before I begin. When we read the end of God’s Word, we realize that the mysteries have been solved. No worries because the Church wins! Mysteries can be puzzling and even have you sitting on the edge of your seat, but in Christ the only mystery we will never understand, is how He could love us and want to save us at all cost. Read it again from the beginning to the end and you will see that Jesus is the one, the only one, that can satisfy our souls! By Jane Ann Crenshaw (6/13/08) 3/1/13