Rockfest Day 21 - Some Assembly Required

“Some assembly required” are three of the most terrifying words. Every parent has at one time or another been confronted with these words, usually on Christmas eve. Left over parts, lost instructions, part A definitely does not fit into part B and so on goes the many disasters awaiting ahead.

I had the pleasure of doing a bit of assembly myself recently most unexpectedly. All I wanted was a new outdoor loveseat for my patio. Loveseats and most furniture do not require assembly. I thought the task of going to the discount retailer to buy it where they were on sale would be a snap errand. Not so snap.

I invited a friend to join me, a friend with an SUV, so I could transport my loveseat home. The loveseats and other furniture looked great on display and my friend agreed with my decorating choices. When I remarked that I thought I’d have to get a sales person to get one from the back room my friend remarked that it appeared all the loveseats were out on the floor. To my horror she was simultaneously pointing at a very large box with the loveseat pictured on it.

The box was much smaller than the loveseat itself. There was no way the box contained a fully formed and finished piece of furniture. I stood in awe and wonder – I wondered how the heck did they get that in there? Disassembly, of course. Which meant its first cousin self-assembly and her sisters fear and frustration awaited before me.

The box was surprisingly light and we were able to get it into the cart, into the SUV and ultimately into my living room. Where as they say, hilarity ensued. My friend who thought she was just driving me on a quick errand found her day enveloped by a loveseat. I don’t know how many grown adults it was supposed to take to put that thing together, but two was not enough, we could have used more, many more.

With instructions in hand we set about our task. We were so proud when we got those first two pieces A and B together. We quickly learned while trying to attach piece C that we had assembled either A or B or both upside down and backwards. Round two didn’t go much better. The pieces had pre-drilled holes for quick and easy assembly. And it would have been quick and easy had the holes lined up properly.

We wrestled with that thing for what seemed like hours. We took turns – sort of tag teaming the thing – screwing in the bolts only to find out we’d left out the washer. We tried to manipulate and conjole that thing together. Crawled on the floor under it, raised it on end for more leverage. Anything we could think of to get those four – only four! – pieces together.

I am happy to report that we were successful. Man did conquer machine, as it were. The loveseat looks great. And so far it is still holding together – a minor miracle if I do say so. And the process was actually bearable with much laughter along the way.

The finished product turned out to be just what I had in mind for my patio. However, the process getting there was way more grueling than I had planned. I thought it’d be easy, just go to the store and get what I wanted fully formed and ready to go. But that was not to be. But just because the loveseat was more difficult to bring into my life than first thought did not mean the loveseat was not attainable. It just took some effort to assemble.

Life doesn’t give us a fully formed version of ourselves. We too require assembly. We have dreams, goals and desires and we hope that we will achieve them with ease and little effort. That is not in God’s plan. We, like the loveseat, come with all the parts we will ever need to realize our goals and dreams. We do, however, require assembly to make our parts – our talents, skills, gifts, desires – fully formed.

Every one has a purpose. There is a plan and a blueprint for all of us. There are no spare parts or left over people. What we have to do is look within ourselves and see what parts God put in our box. I do not have the same parts as you. You have different skills, gifts and talents than the next person.

Discovering our parts and allowing God to develop and assemble them is His plan. It’s how He shares us with the world and how He draws us closer to Himself.  We can be assured we discovered one of our parts when pursuing it or doing it brings us joy.  Our parts ignite passion within us and spur us on to do more.  Our skills and gifts may draw us to difficult circumstances and challenges but they don't bring us discontentment.  If we find ourselves dreading what we do then we know that we are trying to use a talent or skill that did not come in our box.  Realizing what is not in our box is just as important as discovering what is.

The process won’t be pretty. Our assembly will entail some degree fear and frustration. But there is no doubt it will also entail lots of hilarity and laughter.

Don’t let the parts remain disassembled, why not open your box and discover what God put inside? You might find some delightful surprises.  The finished product promises to be amazing.
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