Thursday, May 3, 2012

A LIttle Birdie Told Me

 
I have always loved birds.  I think it might be a reminiscent infatuation from my childhood. As I watched Cinderella and her little bird friends on the good old VHS, I longed for some birdie friends of my own.  I have vivid memories of playing outside and standing very still with my finger available for any bird to perch upon.  I set friendly traps in hopes to get to sing with the sweet winged-creature just as my favorite Disney princesses did.  (Don’t judge…you have your own vivid memories!)

As I have gotten older birds have begun to symbolize much more than dreams and wishes my heart might make.  God loves the birds too.  He even uses them in His Word to remind us of His protection and His love for each of us.

One afternoon a few weeks ago I was cleaning orange splatters of baby food off the back seat of my car.  I thought my Little Man was ready to eat from a squeezy-pouch of food all by himself…I was wrong…it was a carrot crime scene.

I plopped the kids in the grass to play and I propped open the door into the house to easily go back and forth. Scrubbing away, a funny thing happened.  A bird flew right into my garage, through the door, and landed on my ceiling fan.

I stood and watched it, perplexed, trying to find a quick exit for my fine-feathered guest.  I opened the back-slider and waited.  The bird flew to a shelf and landed next to a statue I received as a wedding gift, a husband and wife embracing.  It flew back to the fan.  Then it ventured to the sweet picture of the four of us on my mantle and again, back to the fan.  The next place it perched was on my big clock and then of course, back to the fan.  Finally, it made a break for it and found it’s way out the sliding door.

No, that's not me holding the bird...sadly...but this is my bird...It's a Flycather.  
“Weird,” was my thought in the moment.  And, as any other mama might, I went back to cleaning up the carrots…a little bewildered but determined to get the orange out my seats.

A few days later we found a nest this bird had been building in the garage in the leg of ladder that had been hanging from the ceiling.  It was almost complete.  At first, I didn’t have the heart to disturb this mama’s hard work.  She had been precise and patient waiting for the garage to be open to do her job.  Yielding to her responsibility, surrendering to her call, she dutifully and persistently went to work building a dwelling place for her family. 

Due to sanitation issues we had to remove it, however, that nest made me pray.  I asked God about his sweet creature.  And as I prayed I was reminded of our rendezvous in my house and the places she perched.

The statue of a husband and a wife:  “Pray for your marriage.”  It was time to pray prayers that would not just bless and protect but prayers that would produce fruit and growth.  I prayed for unity and for the embracing to last our lifetimes.  I prayed for my husband, no more prayers laced with selfish ambition, but prayers for him that would bring the future and hope that God might have for him.

The picture of my family:  “Pray for your children.”  I prayed for my kids to have hearts that care about people.  I prayed that we would not let our fear or even our good intentions get in the way of what God has called each of them to be.  May we see early the path they are to walk and do our best to keep Jesus the hero of their lives.

The clock:  “Pray for your time.”  Then I was promptly convicted of my “time-wasters.”  My minutes are precious.  My babies are little and I will regret my lost moments given to Facebook and Pinterest or even the laundry at times.  My time is a gift. I need to stop wasting it.

I thought about that Mama Bird doing what she was created to do and I knew that what this little birdie was telling me was an assignment…one too important to fail.

 It is not enough to pray out of defense and worry.  As a mama I need to build.  I need to be patient and persistent, yielding to my responsibility and surrendering to my call.  As I abide, make my dwelling,  in Christ so might my family and the world may just be better for it.

 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? – Matthew 6:26

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