Final Pieces in the Puzzle

Have you ever noticed that when you put together a jigsaw puzzle there comes a point at which you can see the end and the pieces seem to start falling together quickly and with greater ease? It's like putting in the final few words of the crossword puzzle when you have half or more of the letters already in place. Life can be a little like that. At least, that's what seems to be happening to us. Let me explain.
Last week my wife and I moved to Pasadena, California. From Thursday to Saturday we packed boxes, unhooked cables, loaded the moving truck (four times - two to take things to storage and twice to take things to Pasadena). As we got to the final things in the house to pack, the work started to go faster and faster. While those several days were long and arduous, they seemed to move more quickly the closer we got to leaving Fresno behind and having Pasadena in the foreground.
After arriving at our new apartment, several friends (God bless all of them who helped us pack, load, and unload!) came to help us unpack the boxes it took us weeks to pack. We started with a huge pile of boxes in the living room (our thought was to place them all there and take them to each room for unpacking or storing). By the end of one day, the pyramid of boxes had disappeared into rooms, drawers, closets, and the spare room. Suddenly, we had a living room with furniture and a television and lamps and a place to sit and relax. As the day wore on, we found that the boxes seem to disappear with greater speed than they did at the beginning.
Today, as I visited with my son and his fiance (they are getting married next weekend) I received a call from my lovely wife telling me that she has found a job. This was the last piece of the puzzle for us in this more than year long process of preparing to follow God's leading to the place God wanted us to be. Joanie has found a job as a music teacher at a Christian School in the L.A. area. She was "discovered" by sending out a resume. They found it very impressive and ended up interviewing only her. She has the job. It will pay well enough for us to live on for the next year (or more, if she likes it). It is near the ocean (hmmm, maybe we will move closer to the school she teaches in and let me commute to the seminary - oh, no, that would involve moving, again!). It is an answer to prayer. It has full medical benefits for her and adding me on will not cost too much (I have to have medical insurance in order to be a student at the seminary). Just as all the other avenues seemed to be shutting down and we weren't sure where the funds would come from to allow us to live, God provided a way. And, just like the jigsaw puzzle, the pieces have come together with amazing speed and quickness.
If you are in one of those times in life where none of the puzzle pieces seem to be fitting together, you may want to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. After all, when they do start falling, the domino affect will cause things to speed up and you might just miss the joy of seeing how God works.