23/366 building and rebuilding

it took significantly more time to go from this:

to this:

                 Than it took to do this last night:

                                           

the goal was to have not even two pieces left connected

 so the puzzle would be back to this: 

Why would I spend three weeks  building a puzzle and leave it together for less than two days? Because I have a friend who really, really, really likes puzzles. She wants to rebuild this one!
My satisfaction is not in keeping it together. 
It is found in the discipline of not giving up.
It is found in sharing the same challenge with someone else.
Knowing we will have something more in common after SHE conquers this beast made breaking the last connections almost as fun as making the last ones when I put the last piece in its place.

As I was breaking the connections of the puzzle pieces, carefully putting them in the box so none would be missing, smiling at the opportunity to share the "I built this" euphoria, another thought came to mind. I have wallered it around all day. 

It takes a lot less time to tear something apart than it does to build it up... 

So, I need and want to be careful in my relationships because 
trust
respect
a good reputation
can take years to build.
Tearing down/losing it can happen in seconds.
Rebuilding, if it can be done, will probably take longer than the initial building took.

I want to be 
trustworthy, 
respectable, 
a person whose reputation leaves no cause for regret or shame for myself or those I love. 
I want to build others up, not tear them down.
I want to be part of restoring what's been damaged, not cause more harm.

"And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Ephesians 4: 11-16