Lessons From the Birds

On our front door there hangs a welcome wreath...  Apparently it looked very welcoming....

...because this is what I found hiding in it a few weeks ago.

 

Five sage-speckled eggs.  

 

 

They belonged to a gorgeous pair of house finches.  The proud papa was adorned with a sunset-red head.  He would sit in a nearby pine tree, singing to his mate while keeping diligent watch for danger.  The mama, clad in camouflage tones of grey and brown, would chat with him constantly from her warm nest, waiting for her babies to crack their way to freedom through those tiny little eggs.   I wondered how a bird could possibly emerge from those little shells.  I was so eager to see them hatch.  I lugged our little step ladder out to that wreath to check the nest daily.  We tried not to use the front door as much as possible, but occasionally we forgot that we had guests living there.  On one such occasion the mama bird found her way into our living room.  My outdoorsy husband, more accustomed to shooting animals than rescuing them, became "the Bird Whisperer" as he gently cupped the scared little mother in his gloved hands and set her free into the night air. I hoped and prayed that she was alright and would return to her nest to warm her eggs so that they would hatch. 

 

 A few days later I was delighted to behold this beautiful sight.  Perhaps "beautiful" is the wrong adjective.  They were more like "adorably ugly!"  Eyes glued shut.  Sparse, scraggly wisps of hair rather than anything that resembled feathers.  Too weak to even lift their heads...

 

It was so sweet to watch them grow stronger every day...

 



For the first week of their lives, I never heard them make a sound.  I guess I thought that baby birds would be noisy, constantly chirping at their parents to demand food.  But instead I found that these babies were silent, blind, and completely trusted that if they opened their mouths, they would be fed.  What an example of blind faith!  How I wish I had more of it!  Instead, I find myself loudly whining to God and wondering whether or not He hears or will answer me in the way I wish Him to.  Deep down I am a selfish brat and it humbles me to admit it.  This picture will always remind me to have more blind, bird-like faith...  To simply open my mouth and taste God's goodness that He so faithfully brings to me each day.

Each day that I climbed that little ladder to peek at these adorably ugly birds I was amazed at how quickly they were growing.  Their pale pink skin turned dark within a day or two.  Their wisps of hair rapidly turned into feathers.  Their blind eyes began to see...

 

 

This is the last picture I was able to take of these fuzzy, feathery friends of mine.  I thought that I had many more days or even weeks to spend with them, taking their photos and watching them grow.  But the next day they were gone.  At first I was worried that something terrible happened to them.  I wondered if a neighborhood cat had somehow raided the nest.  And then I looked at the pine tree next to our porch.  And there they were, flying from tree to tree along with their slightly larger parents, singing happily.  Within two weeks their blind faith had given them the strength to fly. 

 

These feathered friends were a gift from God and taught me so much.  I pray for the grace to have such blind faith and trust, for therein lies true joy and the strength to soar where God wills me to fly.