NOTE: If you missed Chapters 1-11 of Building a Doll House, you can find it in the column under “blog archive” to the right.

As we were drawing closer to the finished product, I realized there were three pieces that didn’t seem to have any place on the house.  We had leftovers!

Two of the pieces had a sticky note on them with their respective numbers. After our cross reference, we found that one piece should have gone on the house long before. Our inspection found that there was no way it could be placed where it belonged and that the house would be just fine without it.

The piece without the sticky note was the flower box that would go on the front of the house. A pure aesthetic piece and would be one of the last things added to the house.

The third piece was puzzling. The number matched an item that was already on the house. Even more puzzling was that on the sticky note it also said “4 pieces.”  We still don’t know where this piece was supposed to go, but again, the house is sound and it doesn’t seem to be begging for this last piece of wood.

What do you think of when you hear “leftovers?” The food sitting in your fridge that will be tomorrow’s trash? The scraps of craft items you haven’t been able to use? The pain that remains from a deep hurt? Broken relationships? Death? Shattered marriages or damaged friendships? These are all “leftovers” of our lives. Some are good, some are painful, but we still need to determine what to do with them.

Scripture gives a few ideas…sometimes the leftovers were destroyed, sacrificed or trampled.

In Exodus, the locusts devoured everything leftover after the hailstorm when Pharaoh wouldn’t release the Israelites from bondage. (Exodus 10:15)

At Aaron and his sons’ ordination anything from the ram or from the bread that was leftover until morning was to be burned up (Exodus 8:32), while in Leviticus 7:16, leftover food from offerings could be eaten.

In the book of Ruth, we see Ruth gleaning in Boaz’s fields (Ruth 2:2). She would glean the barley that was left over after the harvesters. Boaz even told the harvesters to leave extra behind for her.

And there were the leftovers from the feeding of the 5,000. John 6:12 tells us that Jesus didn’t want anything to be wasted. I wonder what they did with those leftovers?

There have been times in my life when everything seemed to be just fine, but there were pieces lying around that didn’t seem to fit. Whether it was a hobby or a friend or sin.

God has given me the directions for my life, but sometimes I ignore His guidance and miss adding something to my life. Sometimes I get ahead of Him and then wait for the piece to be added. And then at other times I have no idea what I missed or where something should be added and it is a complete mystery.

Whatever the case, my focus must stay on God. He’s the Author of the plan. He is the Designer of the life. He is the Creator of me.

So what are we to do with the leftovers of our lives? Remember, Jesus doesn’t want anything to be wasted. It may be different for each of us. But what I do know is that when we give them to God, He can do amazing and remarkable things with the leftovers.

He can restore hope, mend broken hearts, and heal wounded relationships. In the end, He can take all those leftover pieces and make them into something beautiful.

Now, what will you do with your leftover pieces?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna