I can relate

My Lego Lesson


By Janice Joos, MOPS Council Coordinator

I am a mother of two boys. With this honor comes a very large collection of Legos. For birthdays and Christmas each boys always receives a Lego kit to build. They both love to follow the directions step-by-step until the structure is completed.

For Jacob's ninth birthday his brother gave him a very large Lego kit. Jacob was thrilled as he knew that it would be a challenge and take him a few days. However, there were points in the process when Jacob became frustrated at the challenge, and there were even times where he had to stop and take apart the last two or three steps because he had made a mistake.

During the last day of his working on the piece, I watched him as he became frustrated. He knew he made a mistake but couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong. He reviewed the page of directions again and again, but he could not find a solution. Then I watched him as he picked up the box and studied the picture of the completed starship. Several times he looked at the picture and then his pile of Legos until he figured out the problem. I asked him, "What are you doing?"

"I needed to step back and look at the bigger picture," he replied.

Wow, I was struck at the truth in his words. Not just for building Legos, but for all parts of my life. It's east to worry about the small stuff, but that's when I need to step back and look at the bigger picture of my life and the lives of my husband and children. Who would have thought you could learn this kind of lesson from a box of Legos!