Bits and Pieces

We are beginning a new season in our household.  For the first time in our history we have a significant age gap between our children that requires special attention.  When Ava and Isaac were tiny, they were tiny together because they are only fourteen months apart.  Piper, however, is three years behind Isaac.  This poses a few challenges.

Our biggest dilemma these days is this... as the kids get older their toys tend to get smaller.  For his birthday, Isaac received a nifty castle from his grandparents.  It's really cool but it's got a million little pieces and extra parts.  This is a problem now that Piper is on the move and constantly putting things in her mouth.  

As soon as the castle was unwrapped, Grammy occupied herself by monitoring weapons distribution and routinely counted the inventory.  Nana rated the pieces of loose equipment for their level of danger by allowing Piper to attempt to shove each item in her mouth.  Together they managed to determine that this new toy was going to be really... interesting.
In addition, all these little parts are easy to lose.  I hate when a toy or puzzle is missing pieces.  So, as I played with Isaac, he was the brave knight and I was the castle's cleaning lady.  As soon as the artillery was fired I would scurry to retrieve every cannonball.  When the king put down his sword, I tucked it in a Ziploc baggie along with other spare weaponry and extra armor.

It's not that I am complaining, this castle is honestly the grandest toy we have ever welcomed into our home.  As a whole, this castle is fantastic.  Isaac loves it, it keeps him busy and well entertained.  But when I assess it in relation to our current lifestyle, it's going to be a real hassle.  All these little pieces are going to be difficult to handle.  Maybe we should just get rid of them!

If I did that, Isaac would be mortified.  Without the million extra parts he's left with a castle-shaped plastic piece of junk.  It's pretty much useless.  It still looks cool, but it's certainly nothing to get excited about anymore.

Oddly enough, this silly castle reminds me of the bible.  As a whole it seems fairly simple.  God made man, man messed up, God sent Son, Son saved man.  Easy, right?
But when you begin to look at each individual piece, all of the sudden the bible isn't so manageable.  There are parts in there that are deep and complex...easy to choke on.  Sometimes I find myself tripping over pieces of scripture that I don't understand, and I have the habit of losing particular parts of the Word that I find convicting or socially unacceptable.  

If we choose to overlook these little parts, to junk the pieces we don't like, then we just have another ordinary book on our shelf.  It still looks cool, but it's certainly nothing to get excited about.